BX  7795   .F69  A3  19i9 
Fox,  George,  1624-1691. 
George  Fox,  an  autobiograph 


Digitized  by 

the  Internet  Archive 

in  2015 

https://archive.org/details/georgefoxautobioOOfoxg_0 


GEORGE  FOX 
FROM   A    PAINTING   H  Y   S.  CHINK 


Pennsbury  Series  of  Modern  Quaker  Books        DEC    9  1 


GEORGE  FOX 

2n  autobtograpl^t 


EDITED  WITH  AN  INTRODUCTION  AND  NOTES  BY 

RUFUS  M.  JONES,  M.A.,  Litt.  D. 

PROFESSOR  OP   PHILOSOPHY   IN   HAVEKFORU  COI.LECE 


FRIENDS'  BOOK  STORE 

304  ARCH  STREET 

1919 


Copyright,  1903,  by  Ferris  *  Leac 


Pennsbury  Series 
II 

PREFACE  BY  THE  EDITOR  OF  THE 
PENNSBURY  SERIES. 

The  author  of  this  edition  of  George  Fox's  Jour- 
nal was  bom  in  South  China,  Maine,  in  1863,  and 
graduated  from  Haverford  College  in  1885.  After 
study  at  Harvard  and  abroad  he  came  in  1893  to 
Haverford  as  Instructor  in  Philosophy,  and  in  the 
foDowing  years  rose  through  the  stage  of  Associate 
Professor  to  a  Professorship  in  1904.  During  the 
same  time  he  was  editor  of  The  Friends'  Review  and 
its  successor,  Th-e  American  Friend,  retiring 
from  the  latter  position  in  1912.  Since  1896  he  has 
been  a  Tnistee  of  Bryn  Mawr  College,  and  since 
1917  the  President  of  the  Board.  He  has  been  a 
potential  figure  in  the  Five  Years  Meeting  organiza- 
tion and  in  many  agencies  of  the  Society  of  Friends. 

He  is  the  author  of  numerous  books,  principally 
in  religious  and  historical  subjects.  "A  Dynamic 
Faith,"  "  Social  Law  in  the  Spiritual  World,"  "  The 
Double  Search,"  "  The  Abundant  Life,"  "  Quaker- 
ism a  Religion  of  Life,"  and  others  followed  each 
other  in  rapid  succession.  His  special  field  of  au- 
thorship, however,  has  consisted  in  carrying  out  a 
project  of  his  friend,  Jolm  Willielm  Rowntree,  of 
England,  for  a  complete  history  of  the  Society  of 
Friends  and  the  movements  that  led  up  to  it. 


Tliis  complete  series  includes:  "  Studies  in  Mysti- 
cal Relig^ion  "  (London,  1909);  "Spiritual  Reform- 
ers in  the  Sixteenth  and  Seventeenth  Centuries " 
(London,  1914);  ''The  Beginnings  of  Quakerism," 
hy  William  Charles  Braithwaite,  introduction  by 
R.  M.  Jones  (London,  1912);  "  The  Quakers  in  the 
American  Colonies,"  by  Rufus  M.  Jones,  Amelia 
M.  Gummere  and  Isaac  Sharpless  (London, 
1911);  "The  Second  Period  of  Quakerism,"  by 
William  Charles  Braithwaite,  introduction  by  R.  M. 
Jones  (London,  1919);  "The  Later  Periods  of 
Quakerism,"  by  Rufus  M.  Jones  (in  preparation). 

The  present  volume  is  an  abridged  and  annotated 
edition  of  the  gi*eat  Quaker  classic,  "  Geoi'ge  Fox's 
Journal."  It  is  the  most  readable  edition  ever  pub- 
lished, given  largely  in  Fox's  own  words.  The 
omissions  are  of  a  sort  not  to  break  the  continuity 
of  the  narrative,  while  the  notes  add  much  to  a  good 
imderstanding  of  the  conditions  of  the  time  and  the 
<'haracter  of  the  man.  Unlike  some  abridgments 
there  has  been  no  attempt  to  emphasize  the  editors 
own  theories  of  religion,  but  rather  to  allow  George 
F'ox  to  speak  for  himself.  All  Friends  will  \vdsh  to 
know  something  of  the  remarkable  personality  of 
their  great  leader,  and  those  interested  in  religious 
history  will  find  much  light  on  the  development  of 
a  type  of  religious  endeavor  not  confined  to  Friends 
but  living  through  the  ages.  I.  S. 


Buverford,  1919. 


HJcbicatciJ 


TO   THE  SWEET   AND  SHINING   MEMORY  OK  THE  LITTLE 
LAD    WHOSE    BEAUTIFUL    LIFE    WAS    A  VISIBLE 
REVELATION  TO  ME  OF  THE  TRUTH,  WHICH 
THIS  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  TEACHES,  THAT 
THE  DIVINE  AND  THE  HUMAN 
ARE  NOT  FAR-SUNDERED. 


"It  {George  Fox's  Journal)  is  one  of  the  most  extra- 
ordinary and  instructive  narratives  in  the  world;  which 
no  reader  of  competent  judgment  can  perme  without 
revering  the  virtue  of  the  writer." 

— Sib  James  Mackintosh. 

"  The  basis  of  his  [^George  Fox's']  teaching  was  the 
belief  that  each  soul  is  in  religious  matters  answerable  not 
to  its  fellows,  but  to  God  alone,  without  priestly  mediation, 
because  the  Holy  Spirit  is  immediately  present  in  every 
soul  and  is  thus  a  direct  cause  of  illumination.  From 
this  central  belief  flowed  two  important  practical  conse- 
quences, both  essentially  modern ;  one  was  complete 
toleration,  the  other  was  complete  equality  of  human  beings 
before  the  law. ' ' 

— John  Fiske. 

"  To  sum  up  in  fewest  possible  words  the  impression 
made  by  his  [George  Fox' s]  words  and  works  upon  one  who 
studies  them  across  the  level  of  two  centuries:  he  was  a 
man  of  lion-like  courage  and  adamantine  strength  of  will, 
absolutely  truthful,  devoted  to  the  fulfillment  of  what  he 
believed  to  be  his  God-appointed  mission,  and  without  any 
of  those  side-long  looks  at  worldly  promotion  and  aggran- 
dizement which  many  sincere  leaders  of  church  parties 
have  cast  at  intervals  of  their  journey." 

— Thomas  Hodgkin. 


' '  /  have  read  through  the  ponderous  /olio  of  George 
Fox.  Pray,  how  may  I  return  it  to  Mr.  Skewell  at 
Ipswich  f  I  fear  to  send  such  a  treasure  by  a  stage-coach, 
not  that  I  am  afraid  of  the  coachman  or  the  guard 
READING  it,  but  it  might  be  lost.  Can  you  put  me  in 
a  way  of  sending  it  safely  f  The  kind-hearted  owner 
trusted  it  to  me  for  six  MONTHS  ;  /  think  I  was  about 
as  many  DAYS  in  getting  through  it,  and  I  do  not  think 
that  I  skipped  a  word  of  it." 

— Chakles  Lamb  to  Bernard  Barton,  Feb.,  1823. 

' '  Fm  judged  truly  that  the  new  Protestant  scholasticism 
had  not  reached  to  the  heart  of  things  in  any  image  of 
past  experience,  or  in  any  printed  book  however  soared  : 
that  academic  learning  was  not  in  itself  an  adequate 
passport  to  the  Christian  ministry  ;  that  the  words  of  God 
should  not  supersede  the  Word  of  God.  He  realized,  as 
few  men  have  ever  realized,  that  we  are  placed  under 
the  dispensation  of  the  Spirit :  that  the  power  from  on  high 
with  which  the  risen  Christ  promised  to  endue  Sis  People 
was  no  exceptional  or  transitory  gift,  but  an  Eternal 
Presence,  an  unfailing  spring  of  energy,  answering  to  new 
wants  and  new  labours.  He  felt  that  the  Spirit  which 
had  guided  the  fathers  was  waiting  still  to  lead  forward 
their  children :  that  He  who  spoke  through  men  of  old  was 
not  withdrawn  from  the  world  like  the  gods  of  Epicurus, 
but  ready  in  all  ages  to  enter  into  holy  sords  and  make 
them  friends  of  God  and  prophets. ' ' 

— Bishop  Brooke  Foss  Westcott. 


I 


PEEF  ACE. 


The  Journal  of  George  Fox  is  one  of  the  great 
religious  autobiographies,  and  has  its  place  with  the 
"  Confessions "  of  St.  Augustine,   Saint  Teresa's 

Life,"  Bunyan's  "  Grace  Abounding  to  the  Chief 
of  Sinners,"  the  "  Life  of  Madam  Guyon,  Written  by 
Herself,"  and  John  Wesley's  "  Journal."  The  great 
interest  which  has  developed  in  recent  years 
in  the  Psychology  of  Religion,  and  in  the 
study  of  mysticism,  has  most  naturally  given 
new  interest  and  prominence  to  all  autobio- 
graphical writings  which  lay  bare  the  inward 
states  and  processes  of  the  seeking,  or  the  tri- 
umphant soul.  Professor  William  James  has  stated 
a  well-known  fact  when  he  says  that  religion  must  be 
studied  in  those  individuals  in  whom  it  is  manifested 
to  an  extra-normal  degree.  In  other  words,  we  must 
go  to  those  individuals  who  have  a  genius  for  religion 
— for  whom  religion  has  constituted  well  nigh  the 
whole  of  life.  George  Fox  is  eminently  a  character 
of  this  sort,  as  nearly  every  recent  student  of  per- 
sonal religion  has  recognized. 


10 


Preface. 


Then,  again,  his  Journal  is  one  of  the  best  sources 
in  existence  for  the  historical  study  of  the  inner  life 
of  the  Commonwealth  and  Restoration  periods. 
There  were  few  hamlets  so  obscure,  few  villages  so  re- 
mote that  they  did  not  have  their  streets  traversed  by 
this  strange  man  in  leather  who  always  travelled  with 
his  eyes  open.  He  knew  all  the  sects  and  shades  of 
religion  which  flourished  in  these  prolific  times.  He 
never  rides  far  without  having  some  experience 
which  shows  the  spirit  and  tendencies  of  the  epoch. 
He  never  writes  for  effect,  and  he  would  have  failed 
if  he  had  tried,  but  he  has,  though  utterly  uncon- 
scious of  it  himself,  filled  his  pages  with  the  homely 
stuff  out  of  which  the  common  life  of  his  England 
was  made. 

The  world-events  which  moved  rapidly  across  the 
stage  during  the  crowded  years  of  his  activity 
receive  but  scant  description  from  his  pen.  They  are 
never  told  for  themselves.  They  come  in  as  by- 
products of  a  narrative,  whose  main  purpose  is  the 
story  of  personal  inward  experience.  The  camera 
is  set  for  a  definite  object,  but  it  catches  the  whole 
background  with  it.  So  here  we  have  the  picture 
of  a  sensitive  soul,  bent  singly  and  solely  on  follow- 
ing a  Divine  Voice,  yet  its  tasks  are  done,  not  in  a 
desert,  but  in  the  setting  of  great  historic  events. 


Preface. 


11 


Here  are  the  soldiers  of  Marston  Moor  and  Dun- 
bar; Cromwell  and  his  household;  Desborough 
and  Monk;  the  quartering  of  regicides  and 
the  "  new  era  "  under  the  second  Charles.  At  every 
point  we  have  vivid  scenes  in  courts,  in 
prisons,  in  churches,  and  in  inns.  People  of 
all  classes  and  sorts  talk  in  their  natural 
tongue  in  these  pages.  Fox  has  little  dramatic 
power,  but  everything  which  furthers,  or  hinders  his 
earthly  mission  interests  him  and  gets  caught  in  his 
narrative.  Pepys  and  Evelyn  have  readier  pens,  but 
Fox  had  many  points  of  contact  with  the  England  of 
those  days  which  they  lacked. 

In  its  original,  unabridged  form,  the  Journal  con- 
tains many  epistles,  and  long,  arid  passages  which  are 
somewhat  forbidding,  and  it  has  always  required  a 
patient,  faithful  reader.  It  has,  however,  always  had 
a  circle  of  readers  outside  the  religious  body  which 
was  founded  by  George  Fox.  This  circle  has 
been  composed  of  those  who  were  somewhat 
kindred  in  spirit  with  him,  and  the  circle  has 
kept  small,  mainly  owing  to  the  inherent  difficulties 
of  the  ponderous,  unedited  mass  of  material.  Of  the 
Journal,  in  its  complete  form,  there  have  neverthe- 
less been  thirteen  editions  published — nine  in  Eng- 
land and  four  in  America. 


12 


Preface. 


The  present  editor  has  undertaken  the  task  of 
abridging  and  editing  it,  in  the  belief  that  the  time  is 
ripe  for  such  a  work.  The  parts  of  the  Journal  which 
have  been  omitted — and  they  are  many — have  gone 
because  they  possess  no  living,  present  interest,  or 
because  they  were  repetitions  of  what  is  left.  The 
story,  as  it  stands,  is  continuous,  and  in  no  way 
suffers  by  omissions.  The  writer  of  the  Journal 
lacked  perspective.  Everything  that  came  was 
equally  important,  and  his  first  editors,  in  1694, 
looked  upon  these  writings  as  too  precious  and  sacred 
to  be  tampered  with  or  seriously  condensed.  The 
original  manuscript,  which  has  never  been  published 
(now  in  the  possession  of  Charles  James  Spence, 
of  North  Shields,  England),  shows  us  that  the  little 
group  of  early  editors  contented  themselves  with 
improving  the  diction,  introducing  some  system 
into  the  spelling,  and  cutting  out  an  occasional  anec- 
dote which  they  feared  might  startle  the  sober 
reader.  The  original  manuscript  is  a  little  livelier, 
fresher  and  more  graphic  than  any  published  edition, 
though  in  the  main  we  have  in  the  editions  a  faithful 
reproduction  of  what  Fox  wrote. 

The  notes  which  attend  the  text  in  this  edition 
have  seemed  necessary  for  a  clear  understanding  of 
the  passages  to  which  they  refer.    They  have  been 


Preface. 


13 


made  as  brief  and  as  few  in  number  as  the  situation 
would  warrant.  The  Introduction  is  an  attempt  to 
put  George  Fox  in  his  historical  setting,  and  to 
develop  the  central  ideas  which  he  expounded, 
though  all  points  of  detail  are  postponed  to 
the  notes.  This  estimate  of  his  religious  mes- 
sage is  based  on  a  study  of  the  body  of 
his  writings,  which  are  voluminous,  and  on 
the  writings  of  his  contemporaries  and  fellow- 
laborers.  It  is  a  pleasure  for  the  editor  to  acknowl- 
edge the  valuable  assistance  which  he  has  received 
from  his  friends,  ISTorman  Penney,  John  Wilhelm 
Eowntree,  Joshua  Eowntree  and  Prof.  Allen  C. 
Thomas. 

Among  recent  writers  the  following  have  been 
appreciative  students  of  George  Fox:  Thomas 
Hodgkin,  in  his  "  George  Fox  " ;  Spurgeon,  in  his 
"  George  Fox " ;  Bancroft,  in  his  History  of 
America  Barclay,  in  his  "  Inner  Life  of  the  Relig- 
ious Societies  of  the  Commonwealth  " ;  Arthur  Gor- 
don's Articles  on  George  Fox  in  the  Theological 
Review;  and  in  the  "  Dictionary  of  National  Biog- 
raphy Frank  Granger,  in  his  "  The  Soul  of  a  Chris- 
tian"; Starbuck,  author  of  "Psychology  of  Re- 
ligion " ;  William  James,  in  "  Varieties  of  Religious 
Experience";  Josiah  Royce,  in  "The  Mysticism  of 


14 


Preface. 


George  Fox  Canon  Curteis,  "  Dissent  in  Its  Rela- 
tion to  the  English  Church  "  (see  Chapter  V.,  "  The 
Quakers");  Westcott's  "Social  Christianity"  (see 
pp.  119-133,  "  The  Quakers  "),  and  John  Stephenson 
Rowntree,  "  Two  Lectures  on  George  Fox." 


INTRODUCTIOISr. 


There  are  mysterious  moments  in  the  early  life 
of  the  individual  which  we  call  "  budding  periods." 
They  are  incubation  crises,  when  some  new  power  or 
function  is  coming  into  being.  The  budding  ten- 
dency to  creep,  to  walk,  to  imitate,  or  to  speak,  is  an 
indication  that  the  psychological  moment  has  come 
for  learning  the  special  operation. 

There  are,  too,  similar  periods  in  the  history  of 
the  race,  mysterious  times  of  gestation,  when  some- 
thing new  is  coming  to  be,  however  dimly  the  age 
itself  comprehends  the  significance  of  its  travail. 
These  racial  "  budding  periods,"  like  those  others, 
have  organic  connection  with  the  past.  They  are  life- 
events  which  the  previous  history  of  humanity  has 
made  possible,  and  so  they  cannot  be  understood  by 
themselves. 

The  most  notable  characteristic  of  such  times  is 
the  simultaneous  outbreaking  of  new  aspects  of  truth 
in  sundered  places  and  through  diverse  lives,  as 
though  the  breath  of  a  new  Pentecost  were  abroad. 
This  dawning  time  is  generally  followed  by  the 
appearance  of  some  person  who  proves  to  be  able  to 


16  George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

be  the  exponent  of  what  others  have  dimly  or  sub- 
consciously felt,  and  yet  could  not  explicitly  set  fortk 
Such  a  person  becomes  by  a  certain  divine  right  the 
prophet  of  the  period  because  he  knows  how  to  inter- 
pret its  ideas  wdth  such  compelling  force  that  he 
organizes  men,  either  for  action  or  for  perpetuating 
the  truth. 

In  the  life  history  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  people  few 
periods  are  more  significant  than  that  which  is  com- 
monly called  the  Commonwealth  period,  though  the 
term  must  be  used  loosely  to  cover  the  span  from 
1640  to  1660.  It  was  in  high  degree  one  of  these 
incubation  epochs  when  something  new  came  to 
consciousness,  and  things  equally  new  came  to  deed. 
This  is  not  the  place  to  describe  the  political  strug- 
gles which  finally  produced  tremendous  constitu- 
tional changes,  nor  to  tell  how  those  who  formed  the 
pith  and  marrow  of  a  nation  rose  against  an  anti- 
quated conception  of  kingship  and  established  princi- 
ples of  self-government.  The  civil  and  political  com- 
motion was  tlie  outcome  of  a  still  deeper  commotion. 
For  a  century  the  burning  questions  had  been 
religious  questions.  The  Church  of  that  time 
was  the  result  of  compromise.  It  had  inher- 
ited a  large  stock  of  mediaeval  thought,  and 
had  absorbed  a  mass  of  mediseval  traditions.  The 


Introduction. 


17 


men  of  moral  and  religious  earnestness  were  bent 
on  some  measure  of  fresh  reform.  A  spirit  was 
abroad  which  could  not  be  put  down,  and  which 
would  not  be  quiet.  The  old  idea  of  an  authoritative 
Church  was  outgrown,  and  yet  no  religious  system 
had  come  in  its  place  which  provided  for  a  free  per- 
sonal approach  to  God  Himself.  It  has,  in  fact, 
always  been  a  pecuKarly  difficult  problem  to  discover 
some  form  of  organization  which  will  conserve  the 
inherited  truth  and  guarantee  the  stability  of  the 
whole,  while  at  the  same  time  it  promotes  the  per- 
sonal freedom  of  the  individual. 
-  The  long  struggle  for  religious  reforms  in  Eng- 
land followed  two  lines  of  development.  There  was 
on  the  one  hand  a  well-defined  movement  toward 
Presbyterianism,  and  on  the  other  a  somewhat 
chaotic  search  for  freer  religious  life — a  movement 
towards  Independency.  The  rapid  spread  of  Pres- 
byterianism increased  rather  than  diminished  the 
general  religious  commotion.  It  soon  became  clear 
that  this  was  another  form  of  ecclesiastical  authority, 
as  inflexible  as  the  old,  and  lacking  the  sacred  sanc- 
tion of  custom.  Then,  too,  the  Calvinistic  theology 
of  the  time  did  violence  to  human  nature  as  a  whole. 
Its  linked  logic  might  compel  intellectual  assent,  but 
there  is  something  in  a  man  as  real  as  his  intellect, 


18  George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

which  is  not  satisfied  with  this  clamping  of  eternal 
truth  into  inflexible  propositions.  Personal  soul- 
hunger,  and  the  necessity  which  many  individuals  feel 
for  spiritual  quest,  must  always  be  reckoned  with.  It 
should  not  be  forgotten  that  George  Fox  came  to  his 
spiritual  crisis  under  this  theology. 

Thus  while  theology  was  stiffening  into  fixed  form 
with  one  group,  it  was  becoming  ever  more 
fluid  among  great  masses  of  people  throughout 
the  nation.  Religious  authority  ceased  to 
count  as  it  had  in  the  past.  Existing  re- 
ligious conditions  were  no  longer  accepted  as 
final.  There  was  a  widespread  restlessness  which 
gradually  produced  a  host  of  curious  sectsy  Fox 
came  directly  in  contact  with  at  least  four  of  the 
leading  sectarian  movements  of  the  time  and  there 
can  be  no  question  that  they  exerted  an  influence 
upon  him  both  positively  and  negatively.  The  first 
"  sect  "  in  importance,  and  the  first  to  touch  the  life 
of  George  Fox,  was  the  Baptist — at  that  time  often 
called  Anabaptist.  His  uncle  Pickering  was  a  mem- 
ber of  this  sect,  and,  though  George  seems  to  have 
been  rather  afraid  of  the  Baptists,  he  must  have 
learned  something  from  them.  They  already  had  a 
long  history,  reaching  back  on  the  continent  to  the 
time  of  Luther,  and  their  entire  career  had  been 


Introduction. 


19 


marked  by  persecution  and  suffering.  They  were 
"  Independents,"  i.  e.,  they  believed  that  Church  and 
State  should  be  separate,  and  that  each  local  church 
should  have  its  own  independent  life.  They  stoutly 
objected  to  infant  baptism,  maintaining  that  no  act 
could  have  a  religious  value  unless  it  were  an  act 
of  will  and  of  faith.  Edwards,  in  his  "  Gangraena," 
1646,  reports  a  doctrine  then  afloat  to  the  intent  that 
"  it  is  as  lawful  to  baptize  a  cat,  or  a  dog,  or  a  chicken 
as  to  baptize  an  infant."  Their  views  on  ministry 
were  novel  and  must  surely  have  interested  Fox. 
They  encouraged  a  lay  ministry,  and  they  actually 
had  cobblers,  leather-sellers,  tailors,  weavers  and  at 
least  one  brewer,  preaching  in  their  meetings.  John 
Bunyan,  who  was  of  them,  proved  to  general  satis- 
faction that  "  Oxford  and  Cambridge  were  not  ne- 
cessary to  fit  men  to  preach.  "^'Still  stranger,  they 
had  what  their  enemies  scornfully  called  "  She- 
preachers."  Edwards  has  recorded  this  dreadful  er- 
ror in  his  list  of  one  hundred  and  ninety-nine  "  dis- 
tinct errors,  heresies  and  blasphemies  ":  "  Some  say 
that  'tis  lavpful  for  women  to  preach,  that  they  have 
gifts  as  well  as  men;  and  some  of  them  do  actually 
preach,  having  great  resort  to  them  " ! 

Furthermore,  they  held  that  all  tithes  and  all  set 
stipends  were  unlawful.     They  maintained  that 


20  George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

preachers  should  work  with  their  own  hands  and  not 
"  go  in  black  clothes."  This  sad  error  appears  in  Ed- 
wards's chaotic  list :  "  It  is  said  that  all  settled  certain 
maintenance  for  ministers  of  the  gospel  is  unlaw- 
ful." Finally  many  of  the  Baptists  opposed  the  use 
of  "  steeple  houses  "  and  held  the  view  that  no  per- 
son is  fitted  to  preach  or  prophesy  unless  the  Spirit 
moves  him. 

The  "  Seekers  "  are  occasionally  mentioned  in  the 
Journal  and  were  widely  scattered  throughout  Eng- 
land during  the  Commonwealth.  They  were  serious- 
minded  people  who  saw  nowhere  in  the  world  any 
adequate  embodiment  of  religion.  They  held  that 
there  was  no  true  Church,  and  that  there  had  been 
none  since  the  days  of  the  apostles.  They  did  not 
celebrate  any  sacraments,  for  they  held  that  there 
was  nobody  in  the  world  who  possessed  an  anointing 
clearly,  certainly  and  infallibly  enough  to  perform 
such  rites.  They  had  no  "  heads  "  to  their  assem- 
blies, for  they  had  none  among  them  who  had  "  the 
power  or  the  gift  to  go  before  one  another  in  the 
way  of  eminency  or  authority."  William  Penn  says 
that  they  met  together  "  not  in  their  own  wills  "  and 
"  waited  together  in  silence,  and  as  anything  arose  in 
one  of  their  minds  that  they  thought  favored  with 
a  divine  spring,  so  they  sometimes  spoke." 


Introduction. 


21 


We  are  able  to  pick  out  a  few  of  their  character- 
istic "  errors "  from  Edwards's  list  in  the  "  Gan- 
grsena."  "  That  to  read  the  Scriptures  to  a  mixed 
congregation  is  dangerous."  "  That  we  did  look  for 
great  matters  from  One  crucified  in  Jerusalem  1600 
years  ago,  but  that  does  no  good;  it  must  be  a  Christ 
formed  in  us."  "  That  men  ought  to  preach  and  ex- 
ercise their  gifts  without  study  and  premeditation 
and  not  to  think  what  they  are  to  say  till  they  speak, 
because  it  shall  be  given  them  in  that  hour  and  the 
Spirit  shall  teach  them."  "  That  there  is  no  need 
of  human  learning  or  reading  of  authors  for  preach- 
ers, but  all  books  and  learning  must  go  down.  It 
comes  from  want  of  the  Spirit  that  men  write  such 
great  volumes." 

The  "  Seekers  "  expected  that  the  light  was  soon 
to  break,  the  days  of  apostasy  would  end  and  the 
Spirit  would  make  new  revelations.  In  the  light  of 
this  expectation  a  peculiar  significance  attaches  to 
the  frequent  assertion  of  Fox  that  he  and  his  follow- 
ers were  living  in  the  same  Spirit  which  gave  forth 
the  Scriptures,  and  received  direct  conmiands  as  did 
the  apostles.  "  I  told  him,"  says  Fox  of  a  "  priest," 
"  that  to  receive  and  go  with  a  message,  and  to  have 
a  word  from  the  Lord,  as  the  prophets  and  apostles 
had  and  did,  and  as  I  had  done,^'  was  quite  another 


22  George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

thing  from  ordinary  experience.  A  much,  more  cha- 
otic "  sect  "  was  that  of  the  "  Ranters."  There  was 
probably  a  small  seed  of  truth  in  their  doctrines,  but 
under  the  excitement  of  religious  enthusiasm  they 
went  to  wild  and  perilous  extremes,  and  in  some 
cases  even  fell  over  the  edge  of  sanity.  They  started 
with  the  belief  that  God  is  in  everything,  that  every 
man  is  a  manifestation  of  God,  and  they  ended  with 
the  conclusion  which  their  bad  logic  gave  them  that 
therefore  what  the  man  does  God  does.  They  were 
above  all  authority  and  actually  said :  "  Have  not  we 
the  Spirit,  and  why  may  not  we  write  scriptures  as 
well  as  Paul  ?  "  They  believed  the  Scriptures  "  not 
because  such  and  such  writ  it,"  but  because  they 
could  affirm  "  God  saith  so  in  me."  What  Christ  did 
was  for  them  only  a  temporal  figure,  and  nothing  ex- 
ternal was  of  consequence,  since  they  had  God  Him- 
self in  them.  As  the  law  had  been  fulfilled  they  held 
that  they  were  free  from  all  law,  and  might  without 
sin  do  what  they  were  prompted  to  do.  Richard 
Baxter  says  that  "  the  horrid  villainies  of  the  sect  did 
speedily  extinguish  it."  Judge  Hotham  told  Fox 
in  1651  that  "if  God  had  not  raised  up  tbe  princi- 
ple of  Light  and  Life  which  he  (Fox)  preached,  the 
nation  had  been  overrun  with  Ranterism."  Many  of 
the  Ranters  became  Friends,  some  of  them  becoming 


Introduction. 


23 


substantial  persons  in  the  new  Society,  though  there 
were  for  a  time  some  serious  Ranter  influences  at 
work  within  the  Society,  and  a  strenuous  opposition 
was  made  to  the  establishment  of  discipline,  order 
and  system.  The  uprising  of  the  "  Fifth-monarchy 
men  "  is  the  only  other  movement  which  calls  for 
special  allusion.  They  were  literal  interpreters  of 
Scripture,  and  had  discovered  grounds  for  believing 
in  the  near  approach  of  the  millennium.  By  some 
system  of  calculation  they  had  concluded  that  the 
last  of  the  four  world  monarchies — the  Assyrian, 
Persian,  Greek  and  Roman — was  tottering  toward 
its  fall,  and  the  Fifth  universal  monarchy — Christ's 
— was  about  to  be  set  up.  The  saints  were  to  reign. 
The  new  monarchy  was  so  slow  in  coming  that  they 
thought  they  might  hasten  it  with  carnal  weapons. 
Perhaps  a  miracle  would  be  granted  if  they  acted  on 
their  faith.  The  miracle  did  not  come,  but  the  up- 
rising brought  serious  trouble  to  Fox,  who  had  be- 
fore told  these  visionaries  in  beautifully  plain  lan- 
guage that  "  Christ  has  come  and  has  dashed  to 
pieces  the  four  monarchies." 

The  person  of  genius  discovers  in  the  great  mass 
of  things  about  him  just  that  which  is  vital  and  es- 
sential. He  seizes  the  eternal  in  the  temporal,  and 
all  that  he  borrows,  he  fuses  with  creative  power  into 


24  George  Fox:  An  Autobiography . 

a  new  whole.  This  creative  power  belonged  to 
George  Fox.  There  was  hardly  a  single  truth  in  tke 
Quaker  message  which  had  not  been  held  by  some 
one  of  the  many  sects  of  the  time.  He  saw  the  spir- 
itual and  eternal  element  which  was  almost 
lost  in  the  chaos  of  half  truths  and  errors.  In 
his  message  these  scattered  truths  and  ideas  were 
fused  into  a  new  whole  and  received  new  life  from 
his  living  central  idea. 

It  is  a  strange  fact  that,  though  England  had 
been  facing  religious  problems  of  a  most  com- 
plex sort  since  the  oncoming  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, it  had  produced  no  religious  genius.  No 
one  had  appeared  who  saw  truth  on  a  new  level, 
or  who  possessed  a  personality  and  a  personal  mes- 
sage which  compelled  the  attention  of  the  nation. 
There  had  been  long  years  of  ingenious,  patchwork 
compromise,  but  no  distinct  prophet.  George  Fox 
is  the  first  real  prophet  of  the  English  Reformation, 
for  he  saw  what  was  involved  in  this  great  religious 
movement.*    Perhaps  the  most  convincing  proof  of 

*"  But  of  '  prophets '  there  are  very  few.  The  good  God  does  not 
seem  to  need  many.  Centuries  pass,  as  He  orders  history,  in  which  there 
are  none.  So  we  call  them  Dark  Ages.  Then  comes  some  Jolin  in  the 
desert,  and  the  world  is  wakened ;  some  Wesley  in  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land, and  there  is  a  revival  of  religion. 

"  For  our  English  races,  since  there  were  English  races,  I  count  three 
or  four  such  prophets ;  for  the  world  of  Europe  I  count  perhaps  eleven 


Introduction. 


25 


this  is  not  the  remarkable  immediate  results  of  his 
labors,  though  these  are  significant  enough,  but 
rather  the  easily-verified  fact  that  the  progress  of 
religious  truth  during  the  last  hundred  years  has 
been  toward  the  truth  which  he  made  central  in  his 
message.*  However  bis  age  misunderstood  him,  he 
would  to-day  find  a  goodly  fellowship  of  believers. 

The  purpose  of  this  book  is  to  have  him  tell  his 
own  story,  which  in  the  main  he  knows  how  to  do. 

worthy  of  our  gratitude  to-day.  I  mean  the  gratitude  of  all  mankind. 
Saint  Paul  and  Saint  John  are  two ;  Augustine  of  Hippo  is  three; 
Dante  and  Francis  of  Assisi  are  two  more ;  Thomas  k  Kempis  and  Jacob 
Bohme,  two  more  ;  and,  coming  across  to  England,Wiclif,  John  Milton, 
George  Fox,  and  John  Wesley." — Edward  Everett  Hale,  in  an  Address 
at  the  Wesley  Bicentennial  Celebration  in  People's  Temple,  Boston. 

"  The  three  most  influential  Englishmen  of  the  last  three  centuries 
were  George  Fox,  John  Wesley  and  John  Henry  Newman.  Those  who 
wish  really  to  understand  those  three  centuries  must  read,  mark,  learn, 
and  inwardly  digest  Fox's  Journal,  Wesley's  Journal,  *nd  Newman's 
Apologia.  The  entire  future  of  England  and  the  English  Empire 
depends  upon  the  answer  to  this  question  :  Will  Newman  defeat  Fox 
and  Wesley,  or  will  Fox  and  Wesley  defeat  Newman  ?  " 

Editorial  in  "  The  Methodist  Times." 

*  "  The  Quaker  religion  which  he  (George  Fox)  founded  is  something 
which  it  is  impossible  to  overpraise.  In  a  day  of  shams,  it  was  a  re- 
ligion of  veracity  rooted  in  spiritual  inwardness,  and  a  return  to  some- 
thing more  like  the  original  gospel  truth  than  men  had  ever  known  in 
England.  So  far  as  our  Christian  sects  to-day  are  evolving  into  liber- 
ality, they  are  simply  reverting  in  essence  to  the  position  which  Fox 
and  the  early  Quakers  so  long  ago  assumed.  No  one  can  pretend  for  a 
moment  that  in  point  of  spiritual  sagacity  and  capacity.  Fox's  mind 
was  unsound.  Every  one  who  confronted  him  personally,  from  Oliver 
Cromwell  down  to  county  magistrates  and  jailers,  seems  to  have 
acknowledged  his  superior  power." 

James's  "Varieties  of  Religious  Experience,"  page  6. 


26  George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

It  will,  however,  be  of  some  service  to  the  reader  to 
develop  in  advance  the  principle  of  which  he  was  the 
exponent.  The  first  period  of  his  life  is  occupied 
with  a  most  painful  quest  for  something  which  would 
satisfy  his  heart.  His  celebrated  contemporary, 
Bunyan,  possessed  much  greater  power  of  describing 
inward  states  and  experiences,  but  one  is  led  to 
believe  on  comparing  the  two  autobiographical 
passages  that  the  sufferings  of  Fox,  in  his  years  of 
spiritual  desolation,  were  even  more  severe  than  were 
those  of  Bunyan,  though  it  is  to  be  noted  that  the 
former  does  not  suffer  from  the  awful  sense  of  per- 
sonal sin  as  the  latter  does.  "  When  I  came  to  eleven 
years  of  age,  I  Jcnew  pureness  and  righteousness,"  is 
Fox's  report  of  his  own  early  deliverance  from  the 
sense  of  sin.  His  "despair,"  from  which  he  could  find 
no  comfort,  was  caused  by  the  extreme  sensitiveness 
of  his  soul.  The  discovery  that  the  world,  and  even 
the  Church,  was  full  of  wickedness  and  sin  crushed 
him.  "  I  looked  upon  the  great  professors  of  the 
city  [London,  1643],  and  I  saw  all  was  dark  and 
under  the  chain  of  darkness."  This  settled  upon  him 
with  a  weight,  deep  almost  as  death,  l^othing  in  the 
whole  world  seemed  to  him  so  real  as  the  world's 
wickedness.  "  I  could  have  wished,"  he  cries  out,  "  I 
had  never  been  bom,  or  that  I  had  been  bom  blind 


Introduction. 


27 


that  I  might  never  have  seen  wickedness  or  vanity; 
and  deaf  that  I  might  never  have  heard  vain  and 
wicked  words,  or  the  Lord's  name  blasphemed." 

He  was  overwhelmed,  however,  not  merely 
because  he  discovered  that  the  world  was  wicked,  but 
much  more  because  he  discovered  that  priests  were 
"  empty  hollow  casks,"  and  that  religion,  as  far  as 
he  could  discover  any  in  England,  was  weak  and  in- 
effective, with  no  dynamic  message  which  moved 
with  the  living  power  of  God  behind  it.  He  could 
find  theology  enough  and  theories  enough,  but  he 
missed  everywhere  the  direct  evidence  that  men 
about  him  had  found  God.  Religion  seemed  to  him 
to  be  reduced  to  a  system  of  clever  substitutes  for 
God,  while  his  own  soul  could  not  rest  until  it  found 
the  life  itself. 

The  turning  point  of  his  life  is  the  discovery — 
through  what  he  beautifully  calls  an  "  opening  " — 
that  Christ  is  not  merely  an  historic  person  who  once 
came  to  the  world  and  then  forever  withdrew,  but 
that  He  is  the  continuous  Divine  Presence,  God 
manifested  humanly,  and  that  this  Christ  can 
"  speak  to  his  condition." 

At  first  sight,  there  appears  to  be  nothing 
epoch-making  in  these  simple  words.  But  it 
soon   develops   that   what   he   really   means  is 


28  George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

that  he  has  discovered  within  the  deeps  of 
his  own  personality  a  meeting  place  of  the  human 
spirit  with  the  Divine  Spirit.  He  had  never  had  any 
donbts  about  the  historical  Christ.  All  that  the 
Christians  of  his  time  believed  about  Christ,  he,  too, 
believed.  His  long  search  had  not  been  to  find  out 
something  about  Christ,  but  to  find  Him.  The 
Christ  of  the  theological  systems  was  too  remote  and 
unreal  to  be  dynamic  for  him.  Assent  to  all  the 
propositions  about  Him  left  one  still  in  the  power 
of  sin.  He  emerges  from  the  struggle  with  an  ab- 
solute certainty  in  his  own  mind  that  he  has  discov- 
ered a  way  by  which  his  soul  has  immediate  dealings 
with  the  living  God.  The  larger  truth  involved  in 
his  experience  soon  becomes  plain  to  him,  namely, 
that  he  has  found  a  universal  principle,  that 
the  Spirit  of  God  reaches  every  man.  He  finds 
this  divine-human  relation  taught  everywhere  in 
Scripture,  but  he  challenges  everybody  to  find 
the  primary  evidence  of  it  in  his  own  conscious- 
ness. He  points  out  that  every  hunger  of  the 
heart,  every  dissatisfaction  with  self,  every  act  of 
self-condemnation,  every  sense  of  shortcoming  shows 
that  the  soul  is  not  unvisited  by  the  Divine  Spirit, 
To  want  God  at  all  implies  some  acquaintance  with 
Him.  The  ability  to  appreciate  the  right,  to  discrim- 


Introduction. 


29 


inate  light  from  darkness,  the  possibility  of  being 
anything  more  than  a  creature  of  sense,  living  for 
the  moment,  means  that  our  personal  life  is  in  con- 
tact at  some  point  with  the  Infinite  Life,  and  that  all 
things  are  possible  to  him  who  believes  and  obeys. 

To  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men,  Fox  continually 
makes  appeal  to  "  that  of  God  "  within  them.  At 
other  times  he  calls  it  indiscriminately  the  "  Light," 
or  the  "  Seed,"  or  the  "  Principle  "  of  God  within 
the  man.  Frequently  it  is  the  "  Christ  within."  In 
evei"y  instance  he  means  that  the  Divine  Being  op- 
erates directly  upon  the  human  life,  and  the  new 
birth,  the  real  spiritual  life,  begins  when  the  indi- 
vidual becomes  aware  of  Him  and  sets  himself  to 
obey  Him.  He  may  have  been  living  along  with  no 
more  explicit  consciousness  of  a  Divine  presence 
than  the  bubble  has  of  the  ocean  on  which  it  rests 
and  out  of  which  it  came;  but  even  so,  God  is  as  near 
him  as  is  the  beating  of  his  own  heart,  and  only  needs 
to  be  found  and  obeyed. 

Instead  of  making  him  imdervalue  the  historic 
revelations  of  God,  the  discovery  of  this  principle 
of  truth  gave  him  a  new  insight  into  the  revelations 
of  the  past  and  the  supreme  manifestations  of  the 
Divine  Life  and  Love.  He  could  interpret  his  own 
inward  experience  in  the  light  of  the  gathered  reve- 


30  George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

lation  of  the  ages.  His  contemporaries  used  to  say 
that,  though  the  Bible  were  lost,  it  might  be  found 
in  the  mouth  of  George  Fox,  and  there  is  not  a  line 
in  the  Journal  to  indicate  that  he  undervalued  either 
the  Holy  Scriptures  or  the  historic  work  of  Christ 
for  human  salvation.  Entirely  the  contrary.  As  soon 
as  he  realized  that  the  same  God  who  spoke  directly  to 
men  in  earlier  ages  still  speaks  directly,  and  that 
to  be  a  man  means  to  have  a  "  seed  of  God " 
within,  he  saw  that  there  were  no  limits  to  the  possi- 
bilities of  a  human  life.  It  becomes  possible  to  live 
entirely  in  the  power  of  the  Spirit  and  to  have  one's 
life  made  a  free  and  victorious  spiritual  life.  So  to 
live  is  to  be  a  "  man  " — for  sin  and  disobedience  re- 
duce a  man.  The  normal  person,  then,  is  the  one  who 
has  discovered  the  infinite  Divine  resources,  and  is 
turning  them  into  the  actual  stuff  of  a  human  life. 
That  it  happens  now  and  then  is  no  mystery;  that  it 
happens  so  seldom  is  the  real  mystery.  "I  asked  them 
if  they  were  living  in  the  power  of  the  Spirit  that 
gave  forth  the  Scriptures  "  is  his  frequent  and  some- 
what naive  question,  as  though  everybody  oufl^* 
be  doing  it. 

The  consciousness  of  the  presence  of  God  is  the 
characteristic  thing  in  George  Fox's  religious  life. 
His  own  life  is  in  immediate  contact  with  the  Divine 


Introduction. 


31 


life.  It  is  this  conviction  whicli  unifies  and  gives 
direction  to  all  his  activities.  God  has  found  him 
and  he  has  found  God.  It  is  this  experience  which 
puts  him  among  the  mystics. 

But  here  we  must  not  overlook  the  distinction  in 
types  oi  mysticism.  There  is  a  great  group  of 
mystics  who  have  painfully  striven  to  find  God  by  a 
path  of  negation.  They  believe  that  everything 
finite  is  a  shadow,  an  illusion — nothing  real.  To 
find  God,  then,  every  vestige  of  the  finite  must  be 
given  up.  The  infinite  can  be  reached  only  by  wip- 
ing out  all  marks  of  the  finite.  The  Absolute  can  be 
attained  only  when  every  "  thing "  and  every 
"  thought  '\have  been  reduced  to  zero.  But  the  diffi- 
culty is  that  this  kind  of  an  Absolute  becomes  abso- 
lutely unknowable.  From  the  nature  of  the  case  He 
could  not  be  found,  for  to  have  any  consciousness  of 
Him  at  all  would  be  to  have  a  finite  and  illusory 
thought. 

George  Fox  belongs  rather  among  the  positive 
mystics,  who  seek  to  realize  the  presence  of  God  in 
this  finite  human  life.  That  He  transcends  all  finite 
experiences  they  fully  realize,  but  the  reality  of  any 
finite  experience  lies  just  in  this  fact,  that  the  living 
God  is  in  it  and  expresses  some  divine  purpose 
through  it,  so  that  a  man  may,  as  George  Fox's 


32  George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

friend,  Isaac  Penington  says,  "  become  an  organ  of 
the  life  and  power  of  God,"  and  "  progagate  God's 
life  in  the  world."  The  mystic  of  this  type  may  feel 
the  light  break  within  him  and  know  that  God  is 
there,  or  he  may  equally  well  discover  Him  as  he 
performs  some  clear,  plain  duty  which  lies  across  his 
path.  His  whole  mystical  insight  is  in  his  discovery 
that  God  is  near,  and  not  beyond  the  reach  of  the 
ladders  which  He  has  given  us. 

But  no  one  has  found  the  true  George  Fox  when 
he  stops  with  an  analysis  of  the  views  which  he  held. 
Almost  more  remarkable  than  the  truth  which  he 
proclaimed  was  the  fervor,  the  enthusiasm,  the 
glowing  passion  of  the  man.  He  was  of.the  genuine 
apostolic  type.  He  had  come  through  years  of 
despair  over  the  wickedness  of  the  world,  but  as  soon 
as  the  Light  really  broke,  and  he  knew  that  he  had 
a  message  for  the  world  in  its  sin  and  ignorance, 
there  was  after  that  nothing  but  the  grave 
itself  which  could  keep  him  quiet.  He  preached  in 
cathedrals,  on  hay  stacks,  on  cliffs  of  rock,  from  hill 
tops,  under  apple  trees  and  elm  trees,  in  bams  and  in 
city  squares,  while  he  sent  epistles  from  every  prison 
in  which  he  was  shut  up.  Wherever  he  could  find 
men  who  had  souls  to  save  he  told  them  of  the  Life 
and  Truth  which  he  had  found. 


Introduction. 


33 


Whether  one  is  in  sympathy  with  Fox's  mystical 
view  of  life  or  not,  it  is  impossible  not  to  be  im- 
pressed with  the  practical  way  in  which  he  wrought 
out  his  faith.  After  all,  the  view  that  God  and  man 
are  not  isolated  was  not  new;  the  really  new  thing 
was  the  appearance  of  a  man  who  genuinely  practiced 
the  Divine  presence  and  lived  as  though  he  knew  that 
his  life  was  in  a  Divine  environment. 

We  have  dwelt  upon  the  fundamental  religious 
principle  of  Fox  at  some  length,  because  his  great 
work  as  a  social  reformer  and  as  the  organizer  of  a 
new  system  of  Church  government  proceeds  from 
this  root  principle.  One  central  idea  moves  through 
all  he  did.  His  originality  lies,  however,  not  so  much 
in  the  discovery,  or  the  rediscovery,  of  the  principle 
as  in  the  fearless  application  of  it.  Other  men  had 
believed  in  Divine  guidance;  other  Christians  had  pro- 
claimed the  impenetration  of  God  in  the  lives  of  men. 
But  George  Fox  had  the  courage  to  carry  his  convic- 
tion to  its  logical  conclusions.  He  knew  that  there 
were  difficulties  entailed  in  calling  men  everywhere 
to  trust  the  Light  and  to  follow  the  Voice,  but  he 
believed  that  there  were  more  serious  difficulties  to 
be  faced  by  those  who  put  some  external  authority 
in  the  place  of  the  soul's  own  sight.  He  was  ready  for 
the  consequences  and  he  proceeded  to  carry  out  both 


34  George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

in  the  social  and  in  the  religions  life  of  his  time  the 
experiment  of  obeying  the  Light  within.  It  is  this 
courageous  fidelity  to  his  insight  that  made  him  a 
social  reformer  and  a  religious  organizer.  He  be- 
longs, in  this  respect,  in  the  same  list  with  St.  Francis 
of  Assisi.  They  both  attempted  the  difficult  task  of 
bringing  religion  from  heaven  to  earth. 

1.  In  the  light  of  his  religious  discovery  Fox  rein- 
terpreted man  as  a  member  of  society.  If  man  has 
direct  intercourse  with  God  he  is  to  be  treated  with 
noble  respect.  He  met  the  doctrine  of  the  divine 
right  of  kings  with  the  conviction  of  the  divine  right 
of  man.  Every  man  is  to  be  treated  as  a  man.  He 
was  a  leveler,  but  ho  leveled  up,  not  down.  Every 
man  was  to  be  read  in  terms  of  his  possibilities — if 
not  of  royal  descent,  certainly  of  royal  destiny. 
This  view  made  Fox  an  unparalleled  optimist.  He 
believed  that  a  mighty  transfonuation  would 
come  as  soon  as  men  were  made  aware  of  this  divine 
relationship  which  he  had  discovered.  They  would 
go  to  living  as  he  had  done,  in  the  power  of  this  con- 
viction. 

He  began  at  once  to  put  in  practice  his  principle  of 
equality — i.  e.,  equality  of  privilege.  He  cut  straight 
through  the  elaborate  web  of  social  custom  which 
hid  man's  true  nature  from  himself.    Human  life 


Introduction. 


35 


had  become  sicklied  o'er  with  a  cast  of  sham,  imtil 
man  had  half  forgotten  to  act  as  man.  Fox  rejected 
for  himself  every  social  custom  which  seemed  to  him 
to  be  hollow  and  to  belittle  man  himself.  The  honor 
which  belonged  to  God  he  would  give  to  no  man,  and 
the  honor  which  belonged  to  any  man  he  gave  to 
every  man.  This  was  the  reason  for  his  "  thee  "  and 
"  thou."  The  plural  form  had  been  introduced  to 
give  distinction.  He  would  not  use  it.  The  Lord 
Protector  and  the  humble  cotter  were  addressed 
alike.  He  had  an  eye  for  the  person  of  great  gifts 
and  he  never  wished  to  reduce  men  to  indistinguisha- 
ble atoms  of  society,  but  he  was  resolved  to  guard  the 
jewel  of  personality  in  every  individual — man  or 
woman. 

2.  His  estimate  of  the  worth  of  man  made  him  a 
reformer.  In  society  as  he  found  it  men  were  often 
treated  more  as  things  than  as  persons.  For  petty  of- 
fenses they  were  hung,*  and  if  they  escaped  this  fate 
they  were  put  into  prisons,  where  no  touch  of  man's 
humanity  was  in  evidence.  In  the  never-ending  wars 
the  common  people  were  hardly  more  than  human 
dice.  Their  worth  as  men  was  well  nigh  forgotten. 
Trade  was  conducted  on  a  system  of  sliding  prices — 
high  for  this  man,  low  for  some  other.  Dealers  were 

*  At  this  epoch  there  were  more  than  two  hundred  capital  offenses. 


36  George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

honest  where  they  had  to  be;  dishonest  where  thev 
could  be.  The  courts  of  justice  were  extremely  un- 
certain and  irregular,  as  the  pages  of  this  journal  con- 
tinually show.  Against  every  such  crooked  system 
which  failed  to  recognize  the  divine  right  of  man 
George  Fox  set  himself.  He  himseK  had  large  op- 
portunities of  observing  the  courts  of  justice  and  the 
inhuman  pens  which  by  courtesy  were  called  jails. 
But  he  became  a  reformer,  not  to  secure  his  own 
rights  or  to  get  a  better  jail  to  lie  in,  but  to  estab- 
lish the  principle  of  human  rights  for  all  men.  He 
went  calmly  to  work  to  carry  an  out-and-out  hon- 
esty into  aU  trade  relations,  to  establish  a  fixed  price 
for  goods  of  every  sort,  to  make  principles  of  busi- 
ness square  with  principles  of  religion.  By 
voice  or  by  epistle  he  called  every  judge  in 
the  realm  to  "  mind  that  of  God "  within  him. 
He  refused  ever  to  take  an  oath,  because  he 
was  resolved  to  make  a  plain  man's  "  yea " 
weigh  as  heavy  as  an  oath.  He  was  always  in  the 
lists  against  the  barbarity  of  the  penal  system,  the 
iniquity  of  enslaving  men,  the  wickedness  of  war, 
the  wastefulness  of  fashion  and  the  evils  of  drunk- 
enness, and  by  argument  and  deed  he  undertook  to 
lead  the  way  to  a  new  heroism,  bet.ter  than  the  hero- 
ism of  battlefields. 


Introduction. 


37 


3.  The  logic  of  his  principle  compelled  him  to 
value  education.  If  all  men  are  to  count  as  men, 
it  is  a  man's  primal  duty  to  be  all  he  can  be. 
To  be  a  poor  organ  of  God  when  one  was  meant  for 
a  good  one  belongs  among  the  high  sins.*  If  it  was 
"  opened  "  to  him  that  Oxford  and  Cambridge  could 
not  make  men  ministers,  his  own  reason  taught  him 
that  it  is  not  safe  to  call  all  men  to  obey  the  voice 
and  follow  the  light  without  broad-basing  them  at 
the  same  time  in  the  established  facts  of  history  and 
nature.  Fox  himself  very  early  set  up  schools  for 
boys  and  girls  alike  in  which  "  everything  civil  and 
useful  in  creation  "  was  to  be  taught.  It  is,  however, 
quite  possible  that  he  undervalued  the  aesthetic  side 
of  man,  and  that  he  suffered  by  his  attempt  to  starve 
it.  In  this  particular  he  shared  the  puritan 
tendency,  and  had  not  learned  how  to  hold 
all  things  in  proportion,  and  to  make  the  culture 
of  the  senses  at  the  same  time  beautify  the  inner 
man. 

*"Dear  friends  and  brethren  that  have  gone  into  America  and  the 
islands  thereaway,  stir  up  the  gift  of  God  in  you  and  improve  your 
talents.  Let  your  light  shine  among  the  Indians,  the  blacks  and  the 
whites,  that  ye  may  answer  the  truth  in  them  and  bring  them  to  the 
standard  and  ensign  that  God  hath  set  up,  Jesus  Christ.  Grow  in  the 
faith  and  grace  of  Christ  that  ye  be  not  like  dwarfs,  for  a  dwarf  shall 
not  come  near  to  oflFer  upon  God's  altar." 

Ji'rom  an  Epistle  of  George  Fox  written  in  1690. 


38  George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

4.  On  the  distinctively  religious  side  his  discov- 
ery of  a  direct  divine-human  relationship  led  to  a 
new  interpretation  of  worship  and  ministry.  God  is 
not  far  off.  He  needs  no  vicar,  no  person  of  any  sort 
between  Himself  and  the  worshipper.  Grace  no 
more  needs  a  special  channel  than  the  dew  does. 
There  is  no  special  holy  place,  as  though  God  were 
more  there  than  here.  He  does  not  come  from  some- 
where else.  He  is  Spirit,  and  needs  only  a  responsive 
soul,  an  open  heart,  to  be  found.  Worship  properly 
begins  when  the  soul  discovers  Him  and  enjoys  His 
presence — in  the  simplest  words  it  is  the  soul's  appre- 
ciation of  God.  With  his  usual  optimism,  he  be- 
lieved that  all  men  and  women  were  capable  of  this 
stupendous  attainment.  He  threw  away  all  crutches 
at  the  start  and  called  upon  everybody  to  walk 
in  the  Spirit,  to  live  in  the  Light.  His  house  of  wor- 
ship was  bare  of  everything  but  seats.  It  had  no 
shrine,  for  the  shekinah  was  to  be  in  the  hearts  of 
those  who  worshipped.  It  had  no  altar,  for  God 
needed  no  appeasing,  seeing  that  He  Himself  had 
made  the  sacrifice  for  sin.  It  had  no  baptismal  font, 
for  baptism  was  in  his  belief  nothing  short  of  im- 
mersion into  the  life  of  the  Father,  Son  and  Holy 
Spirit — a  going  down  into  the  significance  of  Christ's 
death  and  a  coming  up  in  newness  of  life  with  Hira. 


Introduction. 


39 


There  was  no  communion  table,  because  he  believed 
that  the  true  communion  consisted  in  partaking  di- 
rectly of  the  soul's  spiritual  bread — the  living 
Christ.  There  were  no  confessionals,  for  in  the  si- 
lence, with  the  noise  and  din  of  the  outer  life  hushed, 
the  soul  was  to  unveil  itself  to  its  Maker  and  let  His 
light  lay  bare  its  truo  condition.  There  was  no  organ 
or  choir,  for  each  forgiven  soul  was  to  give  praise 
in  the  glad  notes  that  were  natural  to  it.  !N^o  censer 
was  swung,  for  he  believed  God  wanted  only  the  fra- 
grance of  sincere  and  prayerful  spirits.  There  was 
no  priestly  mitre,  because  each  member  of  the  true 
Church  was  to  be  a  priest  imto  God.  No  official 
robes  were  in  evidence,  because  the  entire  business 
of  life,  in  meeting  and  outside,  was  to  be  the  put- 
ting on  of  the  white  garments  of  a  saintly  life.  From 
beginning  to  end  worship  was  the  immediate  appre- 
ciation of  God,  and  the  appropriate  activity  of  the 
whole  being  in  response  to  Him. 

William  Penn  says  of  him:  "  The  most  awful,  liv- 
ing, reverent  frame  I  ever  felt  or  beheld  was  his  in 
prayer."  And  this  was  because  he  reaKzed  that  he 
was  in  the  presence  of  God  when  he  prayed.  He  be- 
lieved that  the  ministry  of  truth  is  limited  to  no 
class  of  men  and  to  no  sex.  As  fast  and  as 
far  as  any  man  discovers  God  it  becomes  hia 


40  George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

business  to  make  Him  known  to  others.  His 
ability  to  do  this  effectively  is  a  gift  from 
God,  and  makes  him  a  minister.  The  only 
thing  the  Church  does  is  to  recognize  the  gift.  This 
idea  carried  with  it  perfect  freedom  of  utterance  to 
all  who  felt  a  call  to  speak,  a  principle  which  has 
worked  out  better  than  the  reader  would  guess, 
though  it  has  been  often  sorely  tested. 

In  the  Society  which  he  founded  there  was  no  dis- 
tinction of  clergy  and  laity.  He  undertook  the  dif- 
ficult task  of  organizing  a  Christian  body  on  which 
the  priesthood  of  believers  should  be  an  actual  fact, 
and  in  which  the  ordinary  religious  exercises  of  the 
Church  should  be  imder  the  directing  and  controlling 
power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  manifesting  itself  through 
the  congregation. 

Not  the  least  service  of  Fox  to  his  age  was  the  im- 
portant part  which  he  took  in  breaking  down  the  in- 
tolerable doctrine  of  predestination,  which  hung  like 
an  incubus  over  men's  lives.  It  threw  a  gloom  upon 
every  person  who  found  himself  forced  by  his  logic 
to  believe  it,  and  its  effect  upon  sensitive  souls  was 
simply  dreadful.  Fox  met  this  doctrine  with  argu- 
ment, but  he  met  it  also  with  something  better  than 
argument — he  set  over  against  it  two  facts:  that 
Divine  grace  and  light  are  free,  and  that  an  inward 


Introduction. 


41 


certainty  of  God's  favor  and  acceptance  is  possible 
for  every  believer.  Wherever  Quakerism  went  this 
inward  assurance  went  with  it.  The  shadow  of  dread  ' 
uncertainty  gave  place  to  sunlight  and  joy.  This  was 
the  beginning  of  a  spiritual  emancipation  which  is 
still  growing,  and  peaceful  faces  and  fragrant  lives 
are  the  result. 

No  reader  of  the  Journal  can  fail  to  be  impressed 
with  the  fact  that  George  Fox  believed  himself  to  be 
an  instrument  for  the  manifestation  of  miraculous 
power.  Diseases  were  cured  through  him;  he  fore-  j 
told  coming  events;  he  often  penetrated  states  and  1 
conditions  of  mind  and  heart;  he  occasionally  had  a 
sense  of  what  was  happening  in  distant  parts,  and  he 
himself  underwent  on  at  least  three  occasions  strik- 
ing bodily  changes,  so  that  he  seemed,  for  days  at  a 
time,  like  one  dead,  and  was  in  one  of  these  times 
incapable  of  being  bled.  These  passages  need  trou- 
ble no  one,  nor  need  their  truthfulness  be  questioned. 
He  possessed  an  unusual  psychical  nature,  delicately 
organized,  capable  of  experiences  of  a  novel  sort, 
but  such  as  are  to-day  very  familiar  to  the  student  of 
psychical  phenomena.  The  marvel  is  that  with  such 
a  mental  organization  he  was  so  sane  and  practical, 
and  so  steadily  kept  his  balance  throughout  a  life 
which  furnished  numerous  chances  for  shipwreck. 


42  George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

It  is  very  noticeable — rather  more  so  in  the  com- 
plete Journal  than  in  this  Autobiography — that 
"  judgments  "  came  upon  almost  everybody  who  was 
a  malicious  opposer  of  him  or  his  work.  "  God  cut 
him  o£F  soon  after,"  is  a  not  infrequent  phrase.  It  is 
manifestly  impossible  to  investigate  these  cases  now, 
and  to  verify  the  facts,  but  the  well-tested  honesty 
of  the  early  Friends  leaves  little  ground  for  doubt- 
ing that  the  facts  were  substantially  as  they  are  re- 
ported. Fox'p  own  inference  that  all  these  persons 
had  misfortune  as  a  direct  "  judgment  "  for  having 
harmed  him  and  hindered  his  cause  will  naturally 
seem  to  us  a  too  hasty  conclusion.  It  is  not  at  all 
strange  that  in  this  eventful  period  many  persons 
who  had  dealings  with  him  should  have  suffered  swift 
changes  of  fortune,  and  of  course  he  failed  to  note 
how  many  there  were  who  did  not  receive  judgment 
in  this  direct  manner.  One  regrets,  of  course,  that 
this  kindly  spiritual  man  shoiild  have  come  so  near 
enjoying  what  seemed  to  him  a  divine  vengeance 
upon  his  enemies,  bi;t  we  must  remember  that  he  be- 
lieved in  his  soul  that  his  work  was  God's  work,  and 
hence  to  frustrate  it  was  serious  business. 

He  founded  a  Society,  as  he  called  it,  which  he  evi- 
dently hoped,  and  probably  believed,  would  some- 


Introduction. 


43 


time  become  universal.*  The  ororanization  in  everv 
aspect  recognized  the  fundamentally  spiritual  nature 
of  man.  Every  individual  was  to  be  a  vital,  organic 
part  of  the  whole;  free,  but  possessed  of  a  freedom 
which  had  always  to  be  exercised  with  a  view  to  the 
interests  and  edification  of  the  whole.  It  was  mod- 
elled exactly  on  the  conception  of  Paul's  universal 
Church  of  many  members,  made  a  unity  not  from 
without,  but  by  the  living  presence  of  the  One  Spirit. 
All  this  work  of  organization  was  effected  while  Fox 
himself  was  in  the  saddle,  carrying  his  message  to 
town  after  town,  interrupted  by  long  absences  in  jail 
and  dungeon,  and  steadily  opposed  by  the  fanatical 
antinomian  elements  which  had  flocked  to  his  stand- 
ard. It  is  not  the  least  mark  of  his  genius  that  in 
the  face  of  an  almost  imparalleled  persecution  he  left 
his  fiftv  thousand  followers  in  Great  Britain  and  Ire- 
land formed  into  a  working  and  growing  lx)dy,  with 
equally  well-organized  meetings  in  Holland,  New 
England,  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  Vir- 
ginia and  the  Carolinas.  His  personality  and  his  mes- 
sage had  won  men  from  every  station  of  Ufe,  and  if 
the  rank  and  file  were  from  the  humbler  walks,  there 

*  "  In  1658  there  was  not  a  Quaker  living  who  did  not  believe  Quaker- 
ism to  be  the  one  only  true  Church  of  the  living  God." 

Hancock's  " Peculium,"  page  8, 


44  George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

■were  also  men  and  women  of  scholarship  and  fame. 
Robert  Barclay,  from  the  schools  of  Paris,  gave  the 
new  faith  its  permanent  expression  in  his  Apology. 
William  Penn  worked  its  principles  out  in  a  holy 
experiment  in  a  Christian  Commonwealth,  and  Isaac 
Penington,  in  his  brief  essays,  set  forth  in  rich  and 
varied  phrase  the  mystical  truth  which  was  at  the 
heart  of  the  doctrine. 

This  is  the  place  for  exposition,  not  for  criticism. 
It  requires  no  searchlight  to  reveal  in  this  man  the 
limitations  and  imperfections  which  his  age  and  his 
own  personal  peculiarities  fixed  upon  him.  He  saw 
in  part  and  he  prophesied  in  part.  But,  like  his 
great  contemporary,  Cromwell,  he  had  a  brave  sin- 
cerity, a  soul  absolutely  loyal  to  the  highest  he  saw. 
The  testimony  of  the  Scarborough  jailer  is  as  true 
as  it  is  imstudied — "  as  stiff  as  a  tree  and  as  pure  as  a 
bell."  It  is  fitting  that  this  study  of  him  should  close 
with  the  words  of  the  man  who  knew  him  best — Wil- 
liam Penn :  "  I  write  my  knowledge  and  not  report, 
and  my  witness  is  true,  having  been  with  him  for 
weeks  and  months  together  on  diverse  occasions,  and 
those  of  the  nearest  and  most  exercising  nature,  by 
sea  and  land,  in  this  country  and  in  foreign  coim- 
tries;  and  I  can  say  I  never  saw  him  out  of  his  place, 


Introduction. 


45 


or  not  a  match  for  every  service  or  occasion.  For  in 
all  things  he  acquitted  himself  like  a  man,  yea,  a 
strong  man,  a  new  and  heavenly-minded  man;  a  di- 
vine and  a  naturalist,  and  all  of  God  Almighty's 
making."  * 


•From  William  Penn's  "  Preface  to  the  Journal  of  George  Fox." 


THE  TESTIMONY  OF  WILLIAM  PENN  CONCEENING 
THAT  FAITHFUL  SERVANT 


GEOEGE  FOX. 

The  blessed  instrument  of  and  in  this  day  of  God, 
and  of  whom  I  am  now  about  to  write,  was  George 
Fox,  distinguished  from  another  of  that  name,  by  that 
other's  addition  of  yoimger  to  his  name  in  all  his 
writings;  not  that  he  was  so  in  years,  but  that  he 
was  so  in  the  truth;  but  he  was  also  a  worthy  man, 
witness  and  servant  of  God  in  his  time. 

But  this  George  Fox  was  bom  in  Leicestershire, 
about  the  year  1624.  He  descended  of  honest  and 
sufficient  parents,  who  endeavoured  to  bring  him  up, 
as  they  did  the  rest  of  their  children,  in  the  way  and 
worship  of  the  nation;  especially  his  mother,  who 
was  a  woman  accomplished  above  most  of  her  degree 
in  the  place  where  she  lived.  But  from  a  child  he 
appeared  of  another  frame  of  mind  than  the  rest  of 
his  brethren ;  being  more  religious,  inward,  still,  solid, 
and  observing,  beyond  his  years,  as  the  answers  he 
would  give,  and  the  questions  he  would  put  upon 
occasion  manifested,  to  the  astonishment  of  those 
that  heard  him,  especially  in  divine  things. 

His  mother  taking  notice  of  his  singular  temper, 
and  the  gravity,  wisdom,  and  piety  that  very  early 
shone  through  him,  refusing  childish  and  vain  sports 


Concerning  George  Fox. 


47 


and  company  when  very  young,  she  was  tender  and 
indulgent  over  him,  so  that  from  her  he  met  with  lit- 
tle difficulty.  As  to  his  employment,  he  was  brought 
up  in  country  business;  and  as  he  took  most  delight  in 
sheep,  so  he  was  very  skilful  in  them;  an  employ- 
ment that  very  well  suited  his  mind  in  several  re- 
spects, both  for  its  innocency  and  solitude;  and  was 
a  just  figure  of  his  after  ministry  and  service. 

I  shall  not  break  in  upon  his  own  account,  which 
is  by  much  the  best  that  can  be  given ;  and  therefore 
desire,  what  I  can,  to  avoid  saying  anything  of  what 
is  said  already,  as  to  the  particular  passages  of  his 
coming  forth;  T)ut,  in  general,  when  he  was  somewhat 
above  twenty,  he  left  his  friends,  and  visited  the  most 
retired  and  religious  people,  and  some  there  were  at 
that  time  in  this  nation,  especially  in  those  parts, 
who  waited  for  the  consolation  of  Israel  night  and 
day,  as  Zacharias,  Anna,  and  good  old  Simeon  did  of 
old  time.  To  these  he  was  sent,  and  these  he  sought 
out  in  the  neighboring  countries,  and  among  them 
he  sojourned  till  his  more  ample  ministry  came  upon 
him. 

At  this  time  he  taught  and  was  an  example  of 
silence,  endeavouring  to  bring  people  from  self-per- 
formances, testifying  and  turning  to  the  light  of 
Christ  within  them,  and  encouraging  them  to  wait 
in  patience  to  feel  the  power  of  it  to  stir  in  their 
hearts,  that  their  knowledge  and  worship  of  God 
might  stand  in  the  power  of  an  endless  life,  which  was 
to  be  found  in  the  Light,  as  it  was  obeyed  in  the 


48  Testimony  of  William  Penn 


manifestation  of  it  in  man,  "  For  in  the  Word  was 
life,  and  that  life  was  the  light  of  men."  Life  in  the 
Word,  light  in  men,  and  life  too,  as  the  light  is 
obeyed;  the  children  of  the  light  living  by  the  life  of 
the  Word,  by  which  the  Word  begets  them  again  to 
God,  which  is  the  regeneration  and  new  birth,  with- 
out which  there  is  no  coming  unto  the  kingdom  of 
God;  and  which,  whoever  comes  to,  is  greater  than 
John,  that  is,  than  John's  ministry,  which  was  not 
that  of  the  kingdom,  but  the  consummation  of  the 
legal,  and  opening  of  the  gospel-dispensation.  Ac- 
cordingly, several  meetings  were  gathered  in  those 
parts;  and  thus  his  time  was  employed  for  some 
years. 

In  1652,  he  being  in  his  usual  retirement  to  the 
Lord  upon  a  very  high  mountain,  in  some  of  the 
hither  parts  of  Yorkshire,  as  I  take  it,  his  mind  exer- 
cised towards  the  Lord,  he  had  a  vision  of  the  great 
work  of  God  in  the  earth,  and  of  the  way  that  he  was 
to  go  forth  to  begin  it.  He  saw  people  as  thick  as 
motes  in  the  sun,  that  should  in  time  be  brought 
home  to  the  Lord,  that  there  might  be  but  one  Shep- 
herd and  one  sheepfold  in  all  the  earth.  There  his 
eye  was  directed  northward,  beholding  a  great  peo- 
ple that  should  receive  him  and  his  message  in  those 
parts.  Upon  this  mountain  he  was  moved  of  the 
Lord  to  sound  out  his  great  and  notable  day,  as  if  he 
had  been  in  a  great  auditory,  and  from  thence  went 
north,  as  the  Lord  had  shewn  him:  and  in  every  place 
where  he  came,  if  not  before  he  came  to  it,  he  had 


Concerning  George  Fox.  49 


his  particular  exercise  and  service  shewn  to  him,  so 
that  the  Lord  was  his  leader  indeed;  for  it  was  not 
in  vain  that  he  travelled,  God  in  most  places  sealing 
his  commission  with  the  convincement  of  some  of  all 
sorts,  as  well  publicans  as  sober  professors  of  re- 
ligion. Some  of  the  first  and  most  eminent  of  them, 
which  are  at  rest,  were  Richard  Famsworth,  James 
Nayler,  William  Dewsberry,  Francis  Howgil,  Ed- 
ward Burrough,  John  Camm,  John  Audland,  Richard 
Hubberthorn,  T.  Taylor,  John  Aldam,  T.  Holmes, 
Alexander  Parker,  William  Simpson,  William  Caton, 
John  Stubbs,  Robert  Widders,  John  Burnyeat, 
Robert  Lodge,  Thomas  Salthouse,  and  many  more 
worthies,  that  cannot  be  well  here  named,  together 
with  divers  yet  living  of  the  first  and  great  convince- 
ment, who  after  the  knowledge  of  God's  purging 
judgments  in  themselves,  and  some  time  of  waiting  in 
silence  upon  him,  to  feel  and  receive  power  from  on 
high  to  speak  in  his  name  (which  none  else  rightly 
can,  though  they  may  use  the  same  words),  felt  the 
divine  motions,  and  were  frequently  drawn  forth, 
especially  to  visit  the  publick  assemblies,  to  reprove, 
inform  and  exhort  them,  sometimes  in  markets,  fairs, 
streets,  and  by  the  highway  side,  calling  people  to 
repentance,  and  to  turn  to  the  Lord  with  their  hearts 
as  well  as  their  mouths;  directing  them  to  the  light  of 
Christ  within  them,  to  see  and  examine  and  consider 
their  ways  by,  and  to  eschew  the  evil  and  do  the  good 
and  acceptable  will  of  God.  And  they  suffered  great 
hardships  for  this  their  love  and  good-will,  being 


50 


Testimony  of  William  Penn 


often  stocked,  stoned,  beaten,  whipped  and  impris- 
oned, though  honest  men  and  of  good  report  where 
they  lived,  that  had  left  wives  and  children,  and 
houses  and  lands,  to  visit  them  with  a  living  call  to  re- 
pentance. And  though  the  priests  generally  set  them- 
selves to  oppose  them,  and  write  against  them,  and 
insinuated  most  false  and  scandalous  stories  to  de- 
fame them,  stirring  uj)  the  magistrates  to  suppress 
them,  especially  in  those  northern  parts,  yet  God 
was  pleased  so  to  fill  them  with  his  living  power,  and 
give  them  such  an  open  door  of  utterance  in  his  ser- 
vice, that  there  was  a  mighty  convincement  over 
those  parts. 

And  through  the  tender  and  singular  indulgence  of 
Judge  Bradshaw  and  Judge  Fell,  in  the  infancy  of 
things,  the  priests  were  never  able  to  gain  the  point 
they  laboured  for,  which  was  to  have  proceeded  to 
blood,  and  if  possible,  Herod-like,  by  a  cruel  exercise 
of  the  civil  power,  to  have  cut  them  off  and  rooted 
them  out  of  the  country.  Especially  Judge  Fell,  who 
was  not  only  a  check  to  their  rage  in  the  course  of 
legal  proceedings,  but  otherwise  upon  occasion,  and 
finally  countenanced  this  people;  for  his  wife  receiv- 
ing the  truth  with,  the  first,  it  had  that  influence  upon 
his  spirit,  being  a  just  and  wise  man,  and  seeing  in  his 
own  wife  and  family  a  full  confutation  of  all  the 
popular  clamours  against  the  way  of  truth,  that  he 
covered  them  what  he  could,  and  freely  opened  his 
doors,  and  gave  up  his  house  to  his  wife  and  her 
friends,  not  valuing  the  reproach  of  ignorant  or  evil- 


Concerning  George  Fox. 


51 


minded  people,  which  I  here  mention  to  his  and  her 
honour,  and  which  will  be  I  believe  an  honour  and  a 
blessing  to  such  of  their  name  and  family  as  shall  be 
found  in  that  tenderness,  humility,  love  and  zeal  for 
the  truth  and  people  of  the  Lord. 

That  house  was  for  some  years  at  first,  till  the  truth 
had  opened  its  way  in  the  southern  parts  of  this 
island,  an  eminent  receptacle  of  this  people.  Others 
of  good  note  and  substance  in  those  northern  coun- 
tries had  also  opened  their  houses  with  their  hearts 
to  the  many  publishers,  that  in  a  short  time  the  Lord 
had  raised  to  declare  his  salvation  to  the  people,  and 
where  meetings  of  the  Lord's  messengers  were  fre- 
quently held,  to  communicate  their  services  and  exer- 
cises, and  comfort  and  edify  one  another  in  their 
blessed  ministry. 

But  lest  this  may  be  thought  a  digression,  having 
touched  upon  this  before,  I  return  to  this  excellent 
man:  and  for  his  personal  qualities,  both  natural, 
moral,  and  divine,  as  they  appeared  in  his  converse 
with  his  brethren  and  in  the  church  of  God,  take  as 
follows. 

1.  He  was  a  man  that  God  endowed  with  a  clear 
and  wonderful  depth,  a  discemer  of  others'  spirits, 
and  very  much  a  master  of  his  own.  And  though  the 
side  of  his  understanding  which  lay  next  to  the  world, 
and  especially  the  expression  of  it,  might  sound  un- 
couth and  unfashionable  to  nice  ears,  his  matter  was 
nevertheless  very  profound,  and  would  not  only  bear 
to  be  often  considered,  but  the  more  it  was  so,  the 


52  Testimony  of  William  Penn 


more  weighty  and  instructing  it  appeared.  And  as 
abruptly  and  brokenly  as  sometimes  his  sentences 
would  fall  from  him  about  divine  things,  it  is  well 
known  they  were  often  as  texts  to  many  fairer  decla- 
rations. And  indeed  it  shewed  beyond  all  contradic- 
tion that  God  sent  him,  that  no  arts  or  parts  had  any 
share  in  the  matter  or  manner  of  his  ministry,  and 
that  so  many  great,  excellent,  and  necessary  truths 
as  he  came  forth  to  preach  to  mankind,  had  therefore 
nothing  of  man's  wit  or  wisdom  to  recommend  them. 
So  that  as  to  man  he  was  an  original,  being  no  man's 
copy.  And  his  ministry  and  writings  shew  they  are 
from  one  that  was  not  taught  of  man,  nor  had  learned 
what  he  said  by  study.  Nor  were  they  notional  or 
speculative,  but  sensible  and  practical  truths,  tending 
to  conversion  and  regeneration,  and  the  setting  up 
the  kingdom  of  God  in  the  hearts  of  men,  and  the 
way  of  it  was  his  work.  So  that  I  have  many  times 
been  overcome  in  myself,  and  been  made  to  say  with 
my  Lord  and  Master  upon  the  like  occasion,  "  I  thank 
thee,  O  Father,  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth,  that  thou 
hast  hid  these  things  from  the  wise  and  prudent  of 
this  world,  and  revealed  them  to  babes  " ;  for  many 
times  hath  my  soul  bowed  in  an  humble  thankfulness 
to  the  Lord,  that  he  did  not  choose  any  of  the  Avise 
and  learned  of  this  world  to  be  the  first  messen- 
ger in  our  age  of  his  blessed  truth  to  men;  but  that 
he  took  one  that  was  not  of  high  degree,  or  elegant 
speech,  or  learned  after  the  way  of  this  world,  that 
his  message  and  work  He  sent  him  to  do  might  come 


Concerning  George  Fox.  53 


with  less  suspicion  or  jealousy  of  human  wisdom  and 
interest,  and  with  more  force  and  clearness  upon  the 
consciences  of  those  that  sincerely  sought  the  way  of 
truth  in  the  love  of  it.  I  say,  beholding  with  the  eye 
of  my  mind,  which  the  God  of  heaven  had  opened  in 
me,  the  marks  of  God's  finger  and  hand  visibly  in  this 
testimony  from  the  clearness  of  the  principle,  the 
power  and  efficacy  of  it  in  the  exemplary  sobriety, 
plainness,  zeal,  steadiness,  humility,  gravity,  punc- 
tuality, charity,  and  circumspect  care  in  the  govern- 
ment of  church  affairs,  which  shined  in  his  and  their 
life  and  testimony  that  God  employed  in  this  work, 
it  greatly  confirmed  me  that  it  was  of  God,  and  en- 
gaged my  soul  in  a  deep  love,  fear,  reverence,  and 
thankfulness  for  his  love  and  mercy  therein  to  man- 
kind; in  which  mind  I  remain,  and  shall,  I  hope,  to 
the  end  of  my  days. 

II.  In  his  testimony  or  ministry  he  much  laboured 
to  open  truth  to  the  people's  understandings,  and  to 
bottom  them  upon  the  principle  and  principal,  Christ 
Jesus,  the  light  of  the  world,  that  by  bringing  them 
to  something  that  was  of  God  in  themselves,  they 
might  the  better  know  and  judge  of  him  and  them- 
selves. 

He  had  an  extraordinary  gift  in  opening  the 
Scriptures.  He  would  go  to  the  marrow  of  things, 
and  shew  the  mind,  harmony,  and  fulfilling  of  them 
with  much  plainness,  and  to  great  comfort  and  edifi- 
cation. 

The  mystery  of  the  first  and  second  Adam,  of  the 


54 


Testimony  of  William  Penn 


fall  and  restoration,  of  the  law  and  gospel,  of 
shadows  and  substance,  of  the  servant  and  son's  state, 
and  the  fulfilling  of  the  Scriptures  in  Christ,  and  by 
Christ  the  true  light,  in  all  that  are  His,  through  the 
obedience  of  faith,  were  much  of  the  substance  and 
drift  of  his  testimonies.  In  all  which  he  was  wit- 
nessed to  be  of  God,  being  sensibly  felt  to  speak  that 
which  he  had  received  of  Christ,  and  was  his  own 
experience  in  that  which  never  errs  nor  fails. 

But  above  all  he  excelled  in  prayer.  The  inward- 
ness and  Aveight  of  his  spirit,  the  reverence  and  sol- 
emnity of  his  address  and  behaviour,  and  the  fewness 
and  fullness  of  his  words,  have  often  struck  even 
strangers  with  admiration,  as  they  used  to  reach 
others  with  consolation.  The  most  awful,  living, 
reverent  frame  I  ever  felt  or  beheld,  I  must  say,  was 
his  in  prayer.  And  truly  it  was  a  testimony  he  knew, 
and  lived  nearer  to  the  Lord  than  other  men;  for  they 
that  know  him  most  will  see  most  reason  to  approach 
him  with  reverence  and  fear. 

He  Avas  of  an  innocent  life,  no  busy-body,  nor  self- 
seeker,  neither  touchy  nor  critical:  what  fell  from 
him  Avas  very  inoffensive,  if  not  very  edifying.  So 
meek,  contented,  modest,  easy,  steady,  tender,  it  Avas 
a  pleasure  to  be  in  his  company.  He  exercised  no 
authority  but  over  evil,  and  that  cA^erywhere  and  in 
all;  but  Avith  love,  compassion,  and  long-suffering.  A 
most  merciful  man,  as  ready  to  forgive  as  unapt  to 
take  or  give  offence.  Thousands  can  truly  say,  he 
was  of  an  excellent  spirit  and  savour  among  them, 


Concerning  George  Fox. 


55 


:iiid  because  thereof  the  most  excellent  spirits  loved 
him  with  an  unfeigned  and  unfading  love. 

He  was  an  incessant  labourer;  for  in  his  younger 
time,  before  his  many  great  and  deep  sufferings  and 
travels  had  enfeebled  his  body  for  itinerant  services, 
he  laboured  much  in  the  word  and  doctrine  and  dis- 
cipline in  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland,  turning 
many  to  God,  and  confinning  those  that  were  con- 
vinced of  the  truth,  and  settling  good  order  as  to 
church  affairs  among  them.  And  towards  the  conclu- 
sion of  his  travelling  services,  between  the  years 
seventy-one  and  seventy-seven,  he  visited  the 
churches  of  Christ  in  the  plantations  in  America,  and 
in  the  United  Provinces,  and  Germany,  as  his  follow- 
ing Journal  relates,  to  the  convincement  and  conso- 
lation of  many.  After  that  time  he  chiefly  resided  in 
and  about  the  city  of  London,  and  besides  the  services 
of  his  ministry,  which  were  frequent,  he  wrote  much 
both  to  them  that  are  within  and  those  that  are  with- 
out the  communion.  But  the  care  he  took  of  the 
affairs  of  the  church  in  general  was  very  great. 

He  was  often  where  the  records  of  the  affairs  of 
the  church  are  kept,  and  the  letters  from  the  many 
meetings  of  God's  people  over  all  the  world,  where 
settled,  come  upon  occasions;  which  letters  he  had 
read  to  him,  and  communicated  them  to  the  meeting 
that  is  weekly  held  there  for  such  services;  he  would 
be  sure  to  stir  them  up  to  discharge  them,  especially 
in  suffering  cases:  showing  great  sympathy  and  com- 
passion upon  all  such  occasions,  carefully  looking 


56  Testimony  of  William  Penn 


into  the  respective  cases,  and  endeavouring  speedy 
relief  according  to  the  nature  of  them;  so  that  the 
churches  and  any  of  the  suffering  members  thereof 
were  sure  not  to  be  forgotten  or  delayed  in  their 
desires  if  he  were  there. 

As  he  was  unwearied,  so  he  was  undaunted  in  his 
services  for  God  and  his  people;  he  was  no  more  to 
be  moved  to  fear  than  to  wrath.  His  behaviour  at 
Derby,  Litchfield,  Appleby,  before  Oliver  Cromwell 
at  Laimceston,  Scarborough,  Worcester,  and  West- 
minster-hall, with  many  other  places  and  exercises, 
did  abundantly  evidence  it  to  his  enemies  as  well  as 
his  friends. 

But  as  in  the  primitive  times  some  rose  up  against 
the  blessed  apostles  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  even 
from  among  those  that  they  had  turned  to  the  hope 
of  the  gospel,  and  who  became  their  greatest  trouble, 
so  this  man  of  God  had  his  share  of  suffering  from 
some  that  were  convinced  by  him,  who  through  preju- 
dice or  mistake  ran  against  him  as  one  that  sought 
dominion  over  conscience;  because  he  pressed,  by  his 
presence  or  epistles,  a  ready  and  zealous  compliance 
with  such  good  and  wholesome  things  as  tended  to  an 
orderly  conversation  about  the  affairs  of  the  church, 
and  in  their  walking  before  men.  That  which  con- 
tributed much  to  this  ill  work,  was  in  some  a  begrudg- 
ing of  this  meek  man  the  love  and  esteem  he  had  and 
deserved  in  the  hearts  of  the  people,  and  weakness  in 
others  that  were  taken  with  their  groundless  sugges- 
tions of  imposition  and  blind  obedience. 


Concerning  George  Fox.  57 


They  would  have  had  every  man  independent,  that 
as  he  had  the  principle  in  himself,  he  should  only 
stand  and  fall  to  that  and  nobody  else;  not  consider- 
ing that  the  principle  is  one  in  all,  and  though  the 
measure  of  light  or  grace  might  differ,  yet  the  nature 
of  it  was  the  same,  and  being  so  they  struck  at  the 
spiritual  unity,  which  a  people  guided  by  the  same 
principle  are  naturally  led  into:  so  that  what  is  evil 
to  one  is  so  to  all,  and  what  is  virtuous,  honest,  and  of 
good  report  to  one,  is  so  to  all,  from  the  sense  and 
savour  of  the  one  universal  principle  which  is  com- 
mon to  all,  and  (which  the  disaffected  profess  to  be) 
the  root  of  all  true  Christian  fellowship,  and  that 
spirit  into  which  the  people  of  God  drink,  and  come 
to  be  spiritually  minded,  and  of  one  heart  and  one 
soul. 

Some  weakly  mistook  good  order  in  the  govern- 
ment of  church-affairs  for  discipline  in  worship,  and 
that  it  was  so  pressed  or  recommended  by  him  and 
other  brethren;  and  they  were  ready  to  reflect  the 
same  things  that  dissenters  had  very  reasonably  ob- 
jected upon  the  national  churches,  that  have  coer- 
cively  pressed  conformity  to  their  respective  creeds 
and  worships:  whereas  these  things  related  wholly  to 
conversation,  and  the  outward  and  (as  I  may  say) 
civil  part  of  the  church,  that  men  should  walk  up  to 
the  principles  of  their  belief,  and  not  be  wanting  in 
care  and  charity.  But  though  some  have  stumbled 
and  fallen  through  mistakes  and  an  unreasonable 
obstinacy,  even  to  a  prejudice,  yet  blessed  be  God,  the 


58  Testimony  of  William  Penn 


generality  have  returned  to  their  first  love,  and  seen 
the  work  of  the  enemy,  that  loses  no  opportiinity  or 
advantage  by  which  he  may  check  or  hinder  the  work 
of  God,  and  disquiet  the  peace  of  His  church,  and 
chill  the  love  of  His  people  to  the  truth,  and  one  to 
another;  and  there  is  hope  of  divers  that  are  yet  at 
a  distance. 

In  all  these  occasions,  though  there  was  no  per- 
son the  discontented  struck  so  sharply  at  as  this  good 
man,  he  bore  all  their  weakness  and  prejudice,  and 
returned  not  reflection  for  reflection;  but  forgave 
them  their  weak  and  bitter  speeches,  praying  for 
them  that  they  might  have  a  sense  of  their  hurt,  and 
see  the  subtlety  of  the  enemy  to  rend  and  divide,  and 
return  into  their  first  love  that  thought  no  ill. 

And  truly,  I  must  say,  that  though  Grod  had  visi- 
bly cloathed  him  vsdth  a  divine  preference  and  author- 
ity, and  indeed  his  very  presence  expressed  a  religious 
majesty,  yet  he  never  abused  it,  but  held  his  place 
in  the  church  of  God  with  great  meekness,  and  a  most 
engaging  humility  and  moderation.  For  upon  all 
occasions,  like  his  blessed  Master,  he  was  a  servant  to 
all,  holding  and  exercising  his  eldership  in  the  invisi- 
ble power  that  had  gathered  them,  with  reverence  to 
the  head  and  care  over  the  body,  and  was  received 
only  in  that  spirit  and  power  of  Chnst,  as  the  first 
and  chief  elder  in  this  age;  who  as  he  was  therefore 
worthy  of  double  honour,  so  for  the  same  reason  it 
was  given  by  the  faithful  of  this  day;  because  his 


Concerning  George  Fox. 


59 


authority  was  inward  and  not  outward,  and  that  he 
got  it  and  kept  it  by  the  love  of  God  and  power  of 
an  endless  life.  I  write  my  knowledge  and  not  re- 
port, and  my  witness  is  true,  having  been  with  him 
for  weeks  and  months  together  on  divers  occasions, 
and  those  of  the  nearest  and  most  exercising  nature, 
and  that  by  night  and  by  day,  by  sea  and  by  land,  in 
this  and  in  foreign  countries:  and  I  can  say  I  never 
saw  him  out  of  his  place,  or  not  a  match  for  every 
service  or  occasion. 

For  in  all  things  he  acquitted  himself  like  a  man, 
yea  a  strong  man,  a  new  and  heavenly-minded  man. 
A  divine,  and  a  naturalist,  and  all  of  God  Almighty's 
making.  I  have  been  surprised  at  his  questions  and 
answers  in  natural  things,  that  whilst  he  was  ignor- 
ant of  useless  and  sophistical  science,  he  had  in  him 
the  foundation  of  useful  and  commendable  knowl- 
edge, and  cherished  it  everj'w^here.  Civil  beyond  all 
forms  of  breeding  in  his  behaviour;  very  temperate, 
eating  little  and  sleeping  less,  though  a  bulky  person. 

Thus  he  lived  and  sojourned  among  us,  and  as  he 
lived  so  he  died,  feeling  the  same  eternal  power  that 
had  raised  and  preserved  him  in  his  last  moments. 
So  full  of  assurance  was  he  that  he  triumphed  over 
death ;  and  so  even  to  the  last,  as  if  death  were  hardly 
worth  notice  or  a  mention:  recommending  to  some 
with  him  the  dispatch  and  dispersion  of  an  epistle, 
just  before  written  to  the  churches  of  Christ, 
throughout  the  world,  and  his  own  books;  but  above 


60 


Testimony  of  William  Penn 


all,  friends,  and  of  all  friends  those  in  Ireland  and 
America,  twice  over:  saying,  Mind  poor  friends  in 
Ireland  and  America. 

And  to  some  that  came  in  and  inquired  kow  he 
found  himself,  he  answered,  "  Never  heed,  the 
Lord's  power  is  over  all  weakness  and  death,  the  Seed 
reigns,  blessed  be  the  Lord  ":  which  was  about  four 
or  five  hours  before  his  departure  out  of  this  world. 
He  was  at  the  great  meeting  near  Lombard  Street  on 
the  first  day  of  the  week,  and  it  was  the  third  follow- 
ing about  ten  at  night  when  he  left  us,  being  at  the 
house  of  H.  Goldney  in  the  same  court.  In  a  good 
old  age  he  went,  after  having  lived  to  see  his  chil- 
dren's children  to  several  generations  in  the  truth. 
He  had  the  comfort  of  a  short  illness,  and  the  bless- 
ing of  a  clear  sense  to  the  last ;  and  we  may  truly  say 
with  a  man  of  God  of  old,  that  "  being  dead,  he  yet 
speaketh  " ;  and  though  absent  in  body,  he  is  present 
in  Spirit;  neither  time  nor  place  being  able  to  inter- 
rupt the  commimion  of  saints,  or  dissolve  the  fellow- 
ship of  the  spirits  of  the  just.  His  works  praise  him, 
because  they  are  to  the  praise  of  Him  that  worked 
by  him;  for  which  his  memorial  is  and  shall  be 
blessed.  I  have  done,  as  to  this  part  of  my  preface, 
when  I  have  left  this  short  epitaph  to  his  name: 
"  Many  sons  have  done  virtuously  in  this  day,  "but, 
dear  George,  thou  excellest  them  all." 


CONTENTS. 


PAOE 

Prepack,         ......  9 

Introduction,        .....  15 

The  Testimony  of  William  Penn  Concerning  that 

Faithful  Servant,  George  Fox,  .  .  46 


I.— Boyhood  —  A  Seeker,          ...  65 

1624-1648. 

II.— The  First  Years  of  Ministry,  .  .  90 

1648-1649. 

III.  — The  Challenge  and  the  First  Taste  of  Prison,  109 

1648-1649. 

IV.  — A  Year  in  Derby  Jail,  .  .  118 

1650-  1651. 

v.— One  Man  May  Shake  the  Country  for  Ten 

Miles,       .  .  .  .  .132 

1651-  1652. 

VI.— A  New  Era  Begins,  ...  150 

1652. 

VII.— In  Prison  Again,  .  .  .  .179 

1653. 

VIII.— A  Visit  to  Oliver  Cromwell,        .  .  197 

1653-1654. 

IX.— A  Visit  to  the  Southern  Counties,  Which  Ends 

IN  Launceston  Jail,        .  .  .222 

1655-  1656. 

X.— Planting  the  Seed  in  Wales,        .  269 

1656-  1657. 


62 


Contents. 


XI.  — In  the  Home  of  the  Covenantees, 

1657. 

XII.  — Great  Events  in  London, 

1658-1659. 

XIII.  — In  the  First  Year  op  King  Charles 

1660. 

XIV.  — Labors,  Dangers  and  Sufferings, 

1661-  1662. 

XV.— In  Prison  for  Not  Swearing, 

1662-  1665. 

XVI.— A  Year  in  Scarborough  Castle, 

1665-1666. 

XVII.— At  the  Work  of  Organizing, 

1667-1670. 

XVIII.— Two  Years  in  America,  . 

1671-1673. 

XIX.— The  Last  Imprisonment, 

1673-1678. 

XX.— The  Seed  Reigns  over  Death, 

1679-1691. 


Index, 


CHAPTER  I. 


1624-1648. 

That  all  may  know  the  dealings  of  the  Lord  with 
me,  and  the  various  exercises,  trials,  and  troubles 
through  which  He  led  me,  in  order  to  prepare  and  fit 
me  for  the  work  unto  which  He  had  appointed  me, 
and  may  thereby  be  drawn  to  admire  and  glorify  His 
infinite  wisdom  and  goodness,  I  think  fit  (before  I 
proceed  to  set  forth  my  public  travels  in  the  service 
of  Truth)  briefly  to  mention  how  it  was  with  me  in 
my  youth,  and  how  the  work  of  the  Lord  was  begun, 
and  gradually  carried  on  in,  me,  even  from  my  child- 
hood. 

I  was  born  in  the  month  called  July,  1624,  at 
Drayton-in-the-Clay,^  in  Leicestershire.  My  father's 
name  was  Christopher  Fox;  he  was  by  profession  a 
weaver,  an  honest  man;  and  there  was  a  Seed  of  God 
in  him.    The  neighbours  called  him  Righteous  Chris- 


^  Now  called  Fenny  Drayton;  a  little  hamlet  about 
five  miles  from  Nuneaton,  in  a  flat,  though  beautiful 
farming  country.  The  house  in  which  George  Fox  was 
born  has  long  since  vanished,  and  the  few  cottages 
which  cluster  here  about  the  crossing  of  two  roads  are 
of  modem  structure.  An  obelisk,  with  a  long  inscrip- 
tion, stands  within  a  hundred  yards  or  so  of  the  site 
of  the  birthplace. 


66 


George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


ter.  My  motlier  was  an  upright  woman ;  her  maiden 
name  was  Mary  Lago,  of  the  family  of  the  Lagos,  and 
of  the  stock  of  the  martyrs.^ 

In  my  very  yoimg  years  I  had  a  gravity  and 
stayedness  of  mind  and  spirit  not  usual  in  children; 
insomuch  that  when  I  saw  old  men  behave  lightly 
and  wantonly  towards  each  other,  I  had  a  dislike 
thereof  raised  in  my  heart,  and  said  within  myself, 
"  If  ever  I  come  to  be  a  man,  surely  I  shall  not  do 
so,  nor  be  so  wanton." 

When  I  came  to  eleven  years  of  age  I  knew  pure- 
ness  and  righteousness;  for  while  a  child  I  was  taught 
how  to  walk  to  be  kept  pure.  The  Lord  taught  me  to 
be  faithful  in  all  things,  and  to  act  faithfully  two 
ways,  viz.,  inwardly,  to  God,  and  outwardly,  to  man; 
and  to  keep  to  Yea  and  l^ay  in  all  things.  For  the 
Lord  showed  me  that,  though  the  people  of  the  world 
have  mouths  full  of  deceit,  and  changeable  words, 
yet  I  was  to  keep  to  Yea  and  Nay  in  all  things;  and 
that  my  words  should  be  few  and  savoury,  seasoned 
with  grace;  and  that  I  might  not  eat  and  drink  to 
make  myself  wanton,  but  for  health,  using  the  crea- 
tures *  in  their  service,  as  servants  in  their  places, 
to  the  glory  of  Him  that  created  them. 


^  This  martyred  ancestor  of  Mary  Lago  was  probably 
a  member  of  the  Glover  family,  of  Mancetter,  a  few 
miles  north  of  Drayton.  (See  article  on  Fox  in  Diet, 
of  Nat.  Biog.,  which  refers  to  Kiching's  "  Mancetter 
Martyrs,"  1860.) 

'  "  Creatures  "  here  and  frequently  means  "  created 
things." 


Boyhood — A  Seeker. 


67 


As  I  grew  up,  my  relations  thought  to  have  made 
me  a  priest,*  but  others  persuaded  to  the  contrary. 
Whereupon  I  was  put  to  a  man  who  was  a  shoe- 
maker ^  by  trade,  and  dealt  in  wool.  He  also  used 
grazing,  and  sold  cattle;  and  a  great  deal  went 
through  my  hands.  While  I  was  with  him  he  was 
blessed,  but  after  I  left  him  he  broke  and  came  to 
nothing. 

I  never  wronged  man  or  woman  in  all  that  time;  vt/l^c  H''^- 
for  the  Lord's  power  was  "with  me  and  over  me,  to  f  jo'"^*)  • 
preserve  me.  While  I  was  in  that  service  I  used  in 
my  dealings  the  word  Verity,  and  it  was  a  common 
saying  among  those  that  knew  me,  "  If  George  says 
verily,  there  is  no  altering  him."  When  boys  and 
rude  persons  would  laugh  at  me,  I  let  them  alone  and 
went  my  way;  but  people  had  generally  a  love  to  me 
for  my  innocency  and  honesty. 


*  "  Priest "  here  means  clergyman  in  the  established 
Church,  though  the  "  priests  "  with  whom  he  comes  in 
contact  in  the  early  years  of  his  ministry  are  Presby- 
terian. The  word  is  usually  employed  for  any  minister 
who  receives  pay  for  preaching. 

^  This  brief  connection  with  shoemaking  has  been  ef- 
fectively used  by  Carlyle  in  his  famous  characteriza- 
tion of  George  Fox.  (See  "  Sartor  Resartus,"  book  iii., 
chapter  1:  "  An  Incident  in  Modern  History.")  There 
is,  however,  no  historical  foundation  for  Carlyle's  pic- 
ture. Sewel  denies  that  there  was  any  connection  be- 
tween Fox's  suit  of  leather  and  "  his  former  leather- 
work."  Croese  says  the  shoemaker  and  cattle  grazer 
lived  in  Nottingham. 


68  George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


When  I  came  towards  nineteen  jears  of  age,  being 
upon  business  at  a  fair,  one  of  my  cousins,  wkose 
name  was  Bradford,  liaving  another  professor  ®  with 
him,  came  and  asked  me  to  drink  part  of  a  jug  of 
beer  with  them.  I,  being  thirsty,  went  in  with  them, 
for  I  loved  any  who  had  a  sense  of  good,  or  that 
sought  after  the  Lord. 

When  we  had  drimk  a  glass  apiece,  they  began  to 
drink  healths,  and  called  for  more  drink,  agreeing  to- 
gether that  he  that  would  not  drink  should  pay  all. 
I  was  grieved  that  any  who  made  profession  of  re- 
ligion should  offer  to  do  so.  They  grieved  me  very 
much,  having  never  had  such  a  thing  put  to  me  be- 
fore by  any  sort  of  people.  Wherefore  I  rose  up, 
and,  putting  my  hand  in  my  pocket,  took  out  a  groat, 
and  laid  it  upon  the  table  before  them,  saying,  "  If 
it  be  so,  I  will  leave  you." 

So  I  went  away;  and  when  I  had  done  my  business 
returned  home;  but  did  not  go  to  bed  that  night,  nor 
could  I  sleep,  but  sometimes  walked  up  and  down, 
and  sometimes  prayed  and  cried  to  the  Lord,  who  said 
unto  me :  "  Thou  seest  how  young  people  go  together 
into  vanity,  and  old  people  into  the  earth;  thou  must 
forsake  all,  young  and  old,  keep  out  of  all,  and  be  as 
a  stranger  unto  all." 

Then,  at  the  command  of  God,  the  ninth  of  the  Sev- 
enth month,  1643,  I  left  my  relations,  and  broke  off 


^  "  Professor  "  means  here  and  everywhere  through- 
out this  book  a  nominal  Christian.  Our  modem  sub- 
stitute for  the  expression  would  be  "  a  church  mem- 
ber." 


BoyJiood — A  Seeker. 


69 


all  familiarity  or  fellowship  with  young  or  old.  I 
passed  to  Lutterworth,  where  I  stayed  some  time. 
From  thence  I  went  to  Northampton,  where  also  I 
made  some  stay;  then  passed  to  ISTewport-Pagnel, 
whence,  after  I  had  stayed  awliile,  I  went  to  Barnet, 
in  the  Fourth  month,  called  June,^  in  the  year  1644. 

As  I  thus  traveled  through  the  country,  professors 
took  notice  of  me,  and  sought  to  be  acquainted  with 
me ;  but  I  was  afraid  of  them,  for  I  was  sensible  they 
did  not  ix)ssess  what  they  professed. 

During  the  time  I  was  at  Barnet  a  strong  tempta- 
tion to  despair  came  upon  me.  I  then  saw  how 
Christ  was  tempted,  and  mighty  troubles  I  was  in. 
Sometimes  I  kept  myself  retired  to  my  chamber,  and 
often  walked  solitary  in  the  Chase  to  wait  upon  the 
Lord.  I  wondered  why  these  things  should  come  to 
me.  I  looked  upon  myself,  and  said,  "  Was  I  ever  so 
before  ?  "  Then  I  thought,  because  I  had  forsaken 
my  relations  I  had  done  amiss  against  them. 

So  I  was  brought  to  call  to  mind  all  my  time  that 
I  had  spent,  and  to  consider  whether  I  had  wronged 
any;  but  temptations  grew  more  and  more,  and  I  was 
tempted  almost  to  despair;  and  when  Satan  could  not 
effect  his  design  upon  me  that  way,  he  laid  snares 
and  baits  to  draw  me  to  commit  some  sin,  whereof  he 
might  take  advantage  to  bring  me  to  despair. 


'  Until  1752  the  English  year  began  in  March,  so 
that  by  the  calendar  then  in  use  June  was  the  fourth 
month.  This  method  of  reckoning  time  runs  through 
the  entire  book,  and  may  be  mentioned  here  once  for 
all. 


70  George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


I  was  about  twenty  years  of  age  when  these  exer- 
cises came  upon  me;  and  some  years  I  continued  in 
that  condition,  in  great  trouble;  and  fain  I  would 
have  put  it  from  me.  I  went  to  many  a  priest  to 
look  for  comfort,  but  foimd  no  comfort  from  them. 

From  Bamet  I  went  to  London,  where  I  took  a 
lodging,  and  was  under  great  misery  and  trouble 
there;  for  I  looked  upon  the  great  professors  of  the 
city  of  London,  and  saw  all  was  dark  and  imder  the 
chain  of  darkness.  I  had  an  imcle  there,  one  Pick- 
ering, a  Baptist ;  the  Baptists  were  tender  *  then ;  yet 
I  could  not  impart  my  mind  to  him,  nor  join  with 
them;  for  I  saw  all,  young  and  old,  where  they  were. 
Some  tender  people  would  have  had  me  stay,  but 
I  was  f earfiil,  and  returned  homeward  into  Leicester- 
shire, having  a  regard  upon  my  mind  to  my  parents 
and  relations,  lest  I  should  grieve  them,  for  I  under- 
stood they  were  troubled  at  my  absence. 

Being  returned  "  into  Leicestershire,  my  relations 
would  have  had  me  married;  buti  told  them  Iwasbut 
a  lad,  and  must  get  wisdom.  Others  would  have  had 
me  join  the  auxiliary  band  among  the  soldiery,*  but 

*  The  Civil  "War  was  at  its  height. 


*  "  Tender "  is  one  of  George  Fox's  favorite  words. 
It  will  come  often.  It  means  that  the  persons  to  whom 
it  is  applied  are  religiously  inclined,  serious,  and 
earnest  in  their  search  for  spiritual  realities. 

^  From  his  return  home  in  1644,  George  Fox  datcvs 
the  beginning  of  his  religious  society.  (See  Epistles, 
Vol.  I.,  p.  10.   Philadelphia  edition,  1831.) 


Boyhood — A  Seeker.  71 


I  refused,  and  was  grieved  that  they  offered  such 
things  to  me,  being  a  tender  youth.  Then  I  went 
to  Coventry,  where  I  took  a  chamber  for  awhile  at 
a  professor's  house,  till  people  began  to  be  acquainted 
with  me,  for  there  were  many  tender  people  in  that 
town.  After  some  time  I  went  into  my  own  country 
again,  and  continued  about  a  year,  in  great  sorrow 
and  trouble,  and  walked  many  nights  by  myself. 

Then  the  priest  of  Drayton,  the  town  of  my  birth, 
whose  name  was  Nathaniel  Stephens,  came  often  to 
me,  and  I  went  often  to  him;  and  another  priest 
sometimes  came  with  liim ;  and  they  would  give  place 
to  me,  to  hear  me;  and  I  would  ask  them  questions, 
and  reason  with  them.  This  priest,  Stephens,  asked 
me  why  Christ  cried  out  upon  the  cross,  "  My  God, 
my  God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me  ?  "  and  why  He 
said,  "  If  it  be  possible,  let  this  cup  pass  from  me ; 
yet  not  my  mil,  but  thine,  be  done  "  ?  I  told  him 
that  at  that  time  the  sins  of  all  mankind  were  upon 
ETim,  and  their  iniquities  and  transgressions,  with 
which  He  was  wounded;  which  He  was  to  bear,  and 
to  be  an  offering  for,  as  He  was  man,;  but  died  not, 
as  He  was  God;  so,  in  that  He  died  for  all  men,  tast- 
ing death  for  every  man.  He  was  an  offering  for  the 
sins  of  the  whole  world. 

This  I  spoke,  being  at  that  time  in  a  measure  sensi- 
ble of  Christ's  sufferings.  The  priest  said  it  was  a 
very  good,  full  answer,  and  such  a  one  as  he  had  not 
heard.  At  that  time  he  would  applaud  and  speak 
highly  of  me  to  others;  and  what  I  said  in  discourse 
to  him  on  week-days,  he  would  preach  of  on  First- 


72  George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


days/"  which  gave  me  a  dislike  to  him.  This  priest 
afterwards  became  my  great  persecutor. 

After  this  I  went  to  another  ancient  priest*  at 
Mancetter,  in  Warwickshire,  and  reasoned  with  him 
about  the  ground  of  despair  and  temptations.  But 
he  was  ignorant  of  my  condition;  he  bade  me  take  to- 
bacco and  sing  psalms.  Tobacco  was  a  thing  I  did 
not  love,  and  psalms  I  was  not  in  a  state  to  sing;  I 
could  not  sing.  He  bade  me  come  again,  and  he 
would  tell  me  many  things;  but  when  I  came  he  was 
angry  and  pettish,  for  my  former  words  had  dis- 
pleased him.  He  told  my  troubles,  sorrows,  and 
griefs  to  his  servants,  so  that  it  got  out  among  the 
milk-lasses.  It  grieved  me  that  I  should  have 
opened  my  mind  to  such  a  one.  I  saw  they  were  all 
miserable  comforters,  and  this  increased  my  troubles 
upon  me.  I  heard  of  a  priest  living  about  Tamworth, 
who  was  accounted  an  experienced  man.  I  went 
seven  miles  to  him,  but  found  him  like  an  empty, 
hollow  cask. 

I  heard  also  of  one  called  Dr.  Cradock,  of  Cov- 

*  Kichard  Abell. 


It  was  a  settled  custom,  in  fact,  a  matter  of  con- 
science with  Fox,  to  avoid  the  names  of  the  days  and  of 
the  months.  He  disliked  them  because  they  commem- 
orated heathen  divinities,  and  he  always  makes  a  point 
of  using  numeral  adjectives  instead  of  the  names.  It 
was  not  an  original  scruple  with  him,  but  a  similar  po- 
sition was  taken  by  some  of  the  leading  "  Separatists  " 
before  the  Commonwealth  period.  (See  Barrow^s 
"  False  Churches,"  p.  204.) 


Boyhood — A  Seeker. 


73 


entry,  and  went  to  him.  I  asked  him  the  ground  of 
temptations  and  despair,  and  how  troubles  came  to 
be  wrought  in  man  ?  He  asked  me,  "  Who  were 
Christ's  father  and  mother  ?  "  I  told  him,  Mary  was 
His  mother,  and  that  He  was  supposed  to  be  the  Son 
of  Joseph,  but  He  was  the  Son  of  God. 

Now,  as  we  were  walking  together  in  his  garden, 
the.  alley  being  narrow,  I  chanced,  in  turning,  to  set 
my  foot  on  the  side  of  a  bed,  at  which  the  man  was  in 
a  rage,  as  if  his  house  had  been  on  fire.  Thus  all  our 
discourse  was  lost,  and  I  went  away  in  sorrow,  worse 
than  I  was  when  I  came.  I  thought  them  miserable 
comforters,  and  saw  they  were  all  as  nothing  to  me, 
for  they  could  not  reach  my  condition. 

After  this  I  went  to  another,  one  Macham,*  a 
priest  in  high  account.  He  would  needs  give  me 
some  physic,  and  I  was  to  have  been  let  blood;  but 
they  could  not  get  one  drop  of  blood  from  me,  either 
in  arms  or  head  (though  they  endeavoured  to  do  so), 
my  body  being,  as  it  were,  dried  up  with  sorrows, 
grief  and  troubles,  which  were  so  gi-eat  upon  me  that 
I  could  have  wished  I  had  never  been  born,  or  that  I 
had  been  born  blind,  that  I  might  never  have  seen 
wickedness  or  vanity;  and  deaf,  that  I  might  never 
have  heard  vain  and  wicked  words,  or  the  Lord's 
name  blasphemed. 

When  the  time  called  Christmas  came,  while  oth- 
ers were  feasting  and  sporting  themselves  I  looked 
out  poor  widows  from  house  to  house,  and  gave  them 
some  money.    When  I  was  invited  to  marriages  (as 

*  Of  Atherstone. 


74  George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


I  sometimes  was),  I  went  to  none  at  all;  but  the  next 
day,  or  soon  after,  I  would  go  and  visit  them,  and  if 
they  were  poor  I  gave  them  some  money;  for  I  had 
wherewith  both  to  keep  myself  from  being  charge- 
able to  others  and  to  administer  something  to  the  ne- 
cessities of  those  who  were  in  need." 

About  the  beginning  of  the  year  1646,  as  I  was 
going  to  Coventry,  and  approaching  towards  the  gate, 
a  consideration  arose  in  me,  how  it  was  said  that 
"  All  Christians  are  believers,  both  Protestants 
and  Papists";  and  the  Lord  opened'^  to  me  that 
if  all  were  believers,  then  they  were  all  born  of  God, 
and  passed  from  death  to  life;  and  that  none  were 
true  believers  but  such;  and,  though  others  said  they 
were  believers,  yet  they  were  not.  At  another  time, 
as  I  was  walking  in  a  field  on  a  First-day  morning. 


"  It  is  difficult  to  find  out  where  George  Fox's  money 
came  from.  He  reports  in  the  original  MS.  of  the 
Journal,  p.  17,  a  remark  his  relatives  made  about  him 
when  he  left  home:  "  When  hee  went  from  us  hee  had 
a  greate  deale  of  gould  and  sillver  about  him."  He  is 
always  well  supplied.  He  goes  to  inns,  always  has  a 
good  horse,  wears  clean  linen  and  frequently  gives  to 
charity.  In  signed  papers  in  the  Spence  collection  he 
gives  orders  for  the  disposal  of  money  invested  "  in 
ships  and  trade,"  as  well  as  of  a  thousand  acres  of  land 
in  Pennsylvania  which  William  Penn  had  assigned  to 
him. 

This  expression  "  opened  "  has  a  mystical  impert, 
and  will  be  of  frequent  occurrence.  He  means  to  say 
that  it  was  directly  revealed  in  his  soul  so  that  he  as- 


Boyhood — A  Seeker. 


75 


the  Lord  opened  unto  me  tkat  being  bred  at  Oxford 
or  Cambridge  was  not  enough  to  fit  and  qualify  men 
to  be  ministers  of  Christ;  and  I  wondered  at  it,  be- 
cause it  was  the  common  belief  of  people.  But  I  saw 
it  clearly  as  the  Lord  opened  it  imto  me,  and  was 
satisfied,  and  admired  the  goodness  of  the  Lord,  who 
had  opened  this  thing  imto  me  that  morning.  This 
struck  at  priest  Stephens's  ministry,  namely,  that  "to 
be  bred  at  Oxford  or  Cambridge  was  not  enough  to 
make  a  man  fit  to  be  a  minister  of  Christ."  So  that 
which  opened  in  me  I  saw  struck  at  the  priest's  min- 
istry. 

But  my  relations  were  much  troubled  that 
I  would  not  go  with  them  to  hear  the  priest;  for  I 
would  go  into  the  orchard  or  the  fields,  mth  my  Bible, 
by  myself.  I  asked  them,  "  Did  not  the  Apostle  say 
to  believers  that  they  needed  no  man  to  teach  them, 
but  as  the  anointing  teacheth  them  ?  "  Though  they 
knew  this  was  Scripture,  and  that  it  was  true,  yet 
they  were  grieved  because  I  could  not  be  subject  in 
this  matter,  to  go  to  hear  the  priest  with  them.  I  saw 
that  to  be  a  true  believer  was  another  thing  than  they 
looked  upon  it  to  be;  and  I  saw  that  being  bred  at 
Oxford  or  Cambridge  did  not  qualify  or  fit  a  man  to 


suredly  knew  it  to  be  true.  Often  he  uses  the  expres- 
sion in  reference  to  some  truth  which  he  might  easily 
have  discovered  in  the  Scriptures  or  have  learned  from 
contemporary  sources.  But  in  this  solemn  way  he  an- 
nounces that  this  truth  has  now  at  length  come  to  be  a 
living  truth  for  him.  It  is  no  longer  a  mere  statement 
of  fact — it  is  a  principle,  the  truth  of  which  he  sees. 


76  George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


be  a  minister  of  Christ;  what  then  should  I  follow 
such  for?  So  neither  them,  nor  any  of  the  dissent- 
ing people,  could  I  join  with;  but  was  as  a  stranger 
to  all,  relying  wholly  upon  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

At  another  time  it  was  opened  in  me  that 
God,  who  made  the  world,  did  not  dwell  in  temples 
made  with  hands.  This  at  first  seemed  a  strange 
word,  because  both  priests  and  people  used  to  call 
their  temples,  or  churches,  dreadful  places,  holy 
ground,  and  the  temples  of  God.  But  the  Lord 
showed  me  clearly  that  He  did  not  dwell  in  these 
temples  which  men  had  commanded  and  set  up, 
but  in  people's  hearts;  for  both  Stephen  and 
the  apostle  Paul  bore  testimony  that  He  did  not 
dwell  in  temples  made  with  hands,  not  even  in  that 
which  He  had  once  commanded  to  be  built,  since  He 
put  an  end  to  it ;  but  that  His  people  were  His  tem- 
ple, and  He  dwelt  in  them. 

This  opened  in  me  as  I  walked  in  the  fields  to 
my  relations'  house.  When  I  came  there  they 
told  me  that  Nathaniel  Stephens,  the  priest,  had 
been  there,  and  told  them  he  was  afraid  of  me, 
for  going  after  new  lights.  I  smiled  in  myself, 
knowing  what  the  Lord  had  opened  in  me  con- 
cerning him  and  his  brethren ;  hxit  I  told  not  my 
relations,  who,  though  they  saw  beyond  the  priests, 
yet  went  to  hear  them,  and  were  grieved  be- 
cause I  would  not  go  also.  But  I  brought  them  Scrip>- 
tures,*  and  told  them  there  was  an  anointing  within 
man  to  teach  him,  and  that  the  Lord  would  teach 
His  people  Himself. 

*  That  is,  gave  them  Scripture  references. 


Boyhood — A  Seeker. 


77 


I  had  also -great  openings  concerning  the  things 
written  in  the  Revelations;  and  when  I  spoke  of 
them  the  priests  and  professors  would  say  that 
was  a  sealed  book,  and  would  have  kept  me  out 
of  it.  But  I  told  them  Christ  could  open  the 
seals,  and  that  they  were  the  nearest  things  to 
us;  for  the  epistles  were  written  to  the  saints  that 
lived  in  former  ages,  but  the  Revelations  were  writ- 
ten of  things  to  come. 

After  this  I  met  with  a  sort  of  people  that  held 
women  have  no  souls,  (adding  in  a  light  manner),  No 
more  than  a  goose.^^  But  I  reproved  them,  and  told 
them  that  was  not  right;  for  Mary  said,  "My  soul 
doth  magnify  the  Lord,  and  my  spirit  hath  rejoiced  in 
God  my  Saviour." 

Removing  to  another  place,  I  came  among  a  people 
that  relied  much  on  dreams.  I  told  them,  except 
they  could  distinguish  between  dream  and  dream, 
they  would  confound  all  together;  for  there  were 
three  sorts  of  dreams;  multitude  of  business  some- 
times caused  dreams,  and  there  were  whisperings  of 
Satan  in  man  in  the  night  season;  and  there  were 
speakings  of  God  to  man  in  dreams.  But  these  peo- 
ple came  out  of  these  things,  and  at  last  became 
Friends.^* 

"Now,  though  I  had  great  openings,  yet  great  trou- 
ble and  temptation  came  many  times  upon  me;  so 


This  was  one  of  the  many  curious  religious  sects 
with  which  the  England  of  the  Commonwealth  was 
overrun.    (See  Edwards's  "  Gangrasna.") 

1* "  Friends  "  is  here  used  for  the  first  time  in  the 


78  George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

that  when  it  was  day  I  wished  for  night,  and  when  it 
was  night  I  wished  for  day;  and  by  reason  of  the 
openings  I  had  in  my  troubles,  I  could  say  as  David 
said,  "  Day  unto  day  uttereth  speech,  and  night  unto 
night  showeth  knowledge."  When  I  had  openings 
they  answered  one  another  and  answered  the  Scrip- 
tures; for  I  had  great  openings  of  the  Scriptures: 
and  when  I  was  in  troubles,  one  trouble  also  answered 
to  another. 

About  the  beginning  of  the  year  1647  I  was  moved 
of  the  Lord  to  go  into  Derbyshire,  where  I  met  with. 
some  friendly  people,  and  had  many  discourses  with 
them.  Then,  passing  into  the  Peak  eountry,^^  I  met 
with  more  friendly  people,  and  with  some  in  empty 
high  notions.**  Travelling  through  some  parts  of 
Leicestershire,  and  into  Nottinghamshire,  I  met  with 
a  tender  people,  and  a  very  tender  woman,  whose 

Journal  as  the  name  of  the  new  denomination.  It  is 
not  possible  to  determine  when  the  name  was  adopted 
or  why  it  was  chosen.  When  the  Journal  was  written 
the  term  had  already  become  fixed  and  Fox  uses  it 
without  comment  or  explanation,  referring  it  back  to 
a  period  before  it  came  into  use  as  the  name  of  the 
Society.  At  first  the  word  "  friends  "  was  probably 
used  in  an  untechnical  sense  for  those  who  were 
friendly,  and  little  by  little  it  hardened  into  a  name. 
At  the  very  beginning  they  called  themselves  "  Chil- 
dren of  the  Light." 

In  the  northern  part  of  Derbyshire. 
**  These  were  "  Ranters  "  who  will  appear  again  and 
often.   They  claimed  to  be  perfect  and  above  the  possi- 
bility of  sinning.   Some  even  went  to  the  wild  extreme 


Boyhood — A  Seeker. 


79 


name  was  Elizabeth  Hooton.*^  With  these  I  had 
some  meetings  and  discourses;  but  my  troubles  con- 
tinued, and  I  was  often  under  great  temptations. 

I  fasted  much,  walked  abroad  in  solitary  places 
many  days,  and  often  took  my  Bible,  and  sat  in  hol- 
low trees  and  lonesome  places  till  night  came  on;  and 
frequently  in  the  night  walked  mournfully  about  by 
myself;  for  I  was  a  man  of  sorrows  in  the  time  of  the 
first  workings  of  the  Lord  in  me. 

During  all  this  time  I  was  never  joined  in  profes- 
sion of  religion  with  any,  but  gave  up  myself  to  the 
Lord,  having  forsaken  all  evil  company,  taken  leave 
of  father  and  mother,  and  all  other  relations,  and 
travelled  up  and  down  as  a  stranger  in  the  earth, 
which  way  the  Lord  inclined  my  heart;  taking  a 
chamber  to  myself  in  the  town  where  I  came,  and 
tarrying,  sometimes  more,  sometimes  less,  in  a  place. 
For  I  durst  not  stay  long  in  a  place,  being  afraid  both 


of  claiming  to  be  Christ,  or  God.  They  went  on  living 
for  the  most  part  much  as  they  chose,  and  justified 
their  acts  on  the  ground  that  it  was  God  who  was  act- 
ing in  them.  It  is  clearly  apparent  from  this  auto- 
biography that  such  persons  were  very  numerous  at  the 
time.  It  will  be  noticed  that  George  Fox  believes  also 
in  the  possibility  of  freedom  from  sin,  but  perfection  as 
he  holds  it  means  something  quite  other  than  this  doc- 
trine of  the  Ranters,  as  the  Journal  will  show. 

'^Elizabeth  Hooton  was  a  woman  of  good  standing, 
who  was  born  in  Nottingham  about  the  year  1600.  She 
was  the  first  person  of  her  sex  to  become  a  minister  in 
the  newly-gathered  Society.   The  preaching  of  women 


80  George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


of  professor  and  profane,  lest,  being  a  tender  young 
man,  I  should  be  burt  by  conversing  much  with 
either.  For  this  reason  I  kept  much  as  a  stranger, 
seeking  heavenly  wisdom  and  getting  knowledge 
from  the  Lord,  and  was  brought  off  from  outward 
things.to  rely  on  the  Lord  alone. 

Though  my  exercises  and  troubles  were  very 
great,  yet  were  they  not  so  continual  but  that 
I  had  some  intermissions,  and  I  was  sometimes 
brought  into  such  an  heavenly  joy  that  I  thought  I 
had  been  in  Abraham's  bosom. 

As  I  cannot  declare  the  misery  I  was  in,  it  was  so 
great  and  heavy  upon  me,  so  neither  can  I  set  forth 
the  mercies  of  God  imto  me  in  all  my  misery.  O  the 
everlasting  love  of  God  to  my  soul,  when  I  was  in 
great  distress !  "When  my  troubles  and  torments  were 
great,  then  was  His  love  exceeding  great.  Thou, 
Lord,  makest  a  fruitful  field  a  barren  wilderness,  and 
a  barren  wilderness  a  fruitful  field !  Thou  bringest 
down  and  settest  up !  Thou  killest  and  makest  alive ! 
all  honour  and  glory  be  to  thee,  0  Lord  of  Glory! 
The  knowledge  of  Thee  in  the  Spirit  is  life ;  but  that 
knowledge  which  is  fleshly  works  death. 

at  this  time  was  not  entirely  novel,  as  it  was  allowed  by 
several  of  the  religious  sects  of  the  period.  Elizabeth 
Hooton  had  her  faith  severely  tested  by  persecution 
and  long  imprisonment.  She  performed  two  religious 
visits  to  America  and  the  West  Indies  and  died  in  Ja- 
maica in  1671. 

All  profound  spiritual  teachers  contrast  ivisdom 
and  knowledge — what  is  here  called  "  knowledge  in  the 


Boyhood — A  Seeker. 


81 


While  there  is  this  knowledge  in  the  flesh,  deceit 
and  self  will  conform  to  anything,  and  will  say  Yes, 
Yes,  to  that  it  doth  not  know.  The  knowledge  which 
the  world  hath  of  what  the  prophets  and  apostles 
spake,  is  a  fleshly  knowledge ;  and  the  apostates  from 
the  life  in  which  the  prophets  and  apostles  were  have 
got  their  words,  the  Holy  Scriptures,  in  a  form,  but 
not  in  the  life  nor  spirit  that  gave  them  forth.  So 
they  all  lie  in  confusion;  and  are  making  provision 
for  the  flesh,  to  fulfil  the  lusts  thereof,  but  not  to  ful- 
fil the  law  and  command  of  Christ  in  His  power  and 
Spirit.  For  that  they  say  they  cannot  do;  but  to 
fulfil  the  lusts  of  the  flesh,  that  they  can  do  with  de- 
light. 

N^ow,  after  I  had  received  that  opening  from  the 
Lord,  that  to  be  bred  at  Oxford  or  Cambridge  was 
not  sufficient  to  fit  a  man  to  be  a  minister  of  Christ, 
I  regarded  the  priests  less,  and  looked  more  after 
the  Dissenting  people.*    Among  them  I  saw  there 

*The  "Separatists" — especially  here  the  Congregationalists  and 
Baptists. 


Spirit "  and  "  knowledge  in  the  flesh,"  or,  what  is  per- 
haps more  frequently  called  "  knowledge  of  the  heart  " 
and  knowledge  of  the  head."  The  latter  expression 
means  a  knowledge  of  fact — the  knowing  that  a  thing 
is  so  by  evidence  which  satisfies  the  mind.  The  former 
expression  means  the  soul's  immediate  grasp  of  truth 
by  the  test  of  practical  experience.  The  goal  in  one 
case  is  the  establishment  of  some  fact;  the  goal  in  the 
other  case  is  the  production  of  positive  life  and  char- 
acter by  the  appreciation  of  the  truth. 


82  George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


was  some  tenderness;  and  many  of  them  came  after- 
wards to  be  convinced,  for  they  had  some  openings. 

But  as  I  had  forsaken  the  priests,  so  I  left  the  sep- 
arate preachers  also,  and  those  esteemed  the  most  ex- 
perienced people;  for  I  saw  there  was  none  among 
them  all  that  could  speali  to  my  condition.  When  all 
my  hopes  in  them  and  in  all  men  were  gone,  so  that  I 
had  nothing  outwardly  to  help  me,  nor  could  I  tell 
what  to  do,  then,  oh,  then,  I  heard  a  voice  which  said, 
"  There  is  one,  even  Christ  Jesus,  that  can  speak  to 
thy  condition  ";  and  when  I  heard  it,  my  heart  did 
leap  for  joy. 

Then  the  Lord  let  me  see  why  there  was  none 
upon  the  earth  that  could  speak  to  my  condi- 
tion, namely,  that  I  might  give  Him  all  the  glory. 
For  all  are  concluded  under  sin,  and  shut  up  in  unbe- 
lief, as  I  had  been;  that  Jesus  Christ  might  have  the 
pre-eminence,  who  enlightens,  and  gives  grace,  and 
faith,  and  power.  Thus  when  God  doth  work,  who 
shall  hinder  it  ?  and  this  I  knew  experimentally. 

My  desire  after  the  Lord  grew  stronger,  and  zeal 
in  the  pure  knowledge  of  God,  and  of  Christ  alone, 
without  the  help  of  any  man,  book,  or  writing.  For 
though  I  read  the  Scriptures  that  spoke  of  Christ  and 
of  God,  yet  I  knew  Him  not,  but  by  revelation,  as  He 


"  Compare  this  great  passage  where  George  Fox  de- 
scribes his  conversion  with  Paul's  account  of  the  spir- 
itual fiat  lux  in  2  Cor.  4:  6,"  For  God  who  commanded 
the  light  to  shine  out  of  darkness  [the  first  fiat  lux] 
hath  sliined  in  ovr  hearts  to  give  the  light  of  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ." 


Boyhood — A  Seeker. 


83 


who  hath  the  key  did  open,  and  as  the  Father  of  Life 
drew  me  to  His  Son  by  His  Spirit.    TheiL-the  Loud 
gently  led  me  along,  and  let  me  see  His  love,  which  / 
was  endless  and  eternal,  surpassing  all  the  knowledge  [ 
that  men  have  in  the  natural  state,  or  can  obtain  I 
from  history  or  books;  and  that  love  let  me  see  my-/ 
self,  as  I  was  without  Him. 

I  was  afraid  of  all  company,  for  I  saw  them 
perfectly  where  they  were,  through  the  love  of 
God,  which  let  me  see  myself.  I  had  not  fel- 
lowship with  any  people,  priests  or  professors, 
or  any  sort  of  separated  people,  but  with  Christ, 
who  hath  the  key,  and  opened  the  door  of  Light 
and  Life  unto  me.  I  was  afraid  of  all  carnal 
talk  and  talkers,  for  I  could  see  nothing  but  corrup- 
tions, and  the  life  lay  under  the  burthen  of  corrup- 
tions. 

When  I  myself  was  in  the  deep,  shut  up  un- 
der all,  I  could  not  believe  that  I  should  ever  over- 
come ;  my  troubles,  my  sorrows,  and  my  temptations 
were  so  great  that  I  thought  many  times  I  should 
have  despaired,  I  was  so  tempted.  But  when  Christ 
opened  to  me  how  He  was  tempted  by  the  same  devil, 
and  overcame  him  and  bruised  his  head,  and  that 
through  Him  and  His  power,  light,  grace,  and  Spirit, 
I  should  overcome  also,  I  had  confidence  in  Him;  so 
He  it  was  that  opened  to  me  when  I  was  shut  up  and 
had  no  hope  nor  faith.  Christ,  who  had  enlightened 
me,  gave  me  His  light  to  believe  in;  He  gave  me 
hope,  which  He  Himself  revealed  in  me,  and  He  gave 
me  His  Spirit  and  grace,  which  I  found  sufficient  in 
the  deeps  and  in  weakness. 


84  George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

Thus,  in  the  deepest  miseries,  and  in  the  greatest 
sorrows  and  temptations,  that  many  times  beset  me, 
the  Lord  in  His  mercy  did  keep  me. 

I  found  that  there  were  two  thirsts  in  me — 
the  one  after  the  creatures,  to  get  help  and 
strength  there,  and  the  other  after  the  Lord,  the 
Creator,  and  His  Son  Jesus  Christ.  I  saw  all  the 
world  could  do  me  no  good;  if  I  had  had  a  king's  diet, 
palace,  and  attendance,  all  would  have  been  as  noth- 
ing; for  nothing  gave  me  comfort  but  the  Lord  by 
His  power.  At  another  time  I  saw  the  great  love  of 
God,  and  was  filled  -n-ith  admiration  at  the  infinite- 
ness  of  it. 

One  day,  when  I  had  been  walking  solitarily  abroad, 
and  was  come  home,  I  was  taken  up  in  the  love  of 
God,  so  that  I  could  not  but  admire  the  greatness  of 
His  love;  and  while  I  was  in  that  condition,  it  was 
opened  unto  me  by  the  eternal  light  and  power,  and 
I  therein  clearly  saw  that  all  was  done  and  to  be 
done  in  and  by  Christ,  and  how  He  conquers  and  de- 
stroys this  tempter  the  devil,  and  all  his  works,  and 
is  atop  of  him;  and  that  all  these  troubles  were  good 
for  me,  and  temptations  for  the  trial  of  my  faith, 
which  Christ  had  given  me. 

The  Lord  opened  me,  that  I  saw  all  throiigh  these 
troubles  and  temptations.  My  living  faith  was 
raised,  that  I  saw  all  Avas  done  by  Christ  the  life, 
and  my  belief  was  in  Him. 

When  at  any  time  my  condition  was  veiled,  my  se- 
cret belief  was  stayed  firm,  and  hope  underneath  held 
me,  as  an  anchor  in  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  and  an- 
chored my  immortal  soul  to  its  Bishop,  causing  it  to 


Boyhood — A  Seeker. 


85 


swam  above  the  sea,  the  world,  where  all  the  raging 
waves,  foul  weather,  tempests  and  temptations  are. 
But  O  !  then  did  I  see  my  troubles,  trials,  and  tempta- 
tions more  clearly  than  ever  I  had  done.  As  the 
Light  appeared  all  appeared  that  is  out  of  the  light; 
darkness,  death,  temptations,  the  unrighteous,  the 
ungodly;  all  was  manifest  and  seen  in  the  light. 

I  heard  of  a  woman  in  Lancashire  that  had  fasted 
two  and  twenty  days,  and  I  travelled  to  see  her;  but 
when  I  came  to  her  I  saw  that  she  was  under  a  temp- 
tation. When  I  had  spoken  to  her  what  I  had  from 
the  Lord,  I  left  her,  her  fatter  being  one  high  in  pro- 
fession. 

Passing  on,  I  went  among  the  professors  at 
Duckingfield  and  Manchester,  where  I  stayed  awhile, 
and  declared  truth  among  them.  There  were  some 
convinced  who  received  the  Lord's  teaching,  by  which 
they  were  confirmed  and  stood  in  the  truth.  But  the 
professors  were  in  a  rage,  all  pleading  for  sin  and  im- 
perfection, and  could  not  endure  to  hear  talk  of  per- 
fection, and  of  a  holy  and  sinless  life.""    But  the 

^"  At  the  very  beginning  of  his  ministry  in  16-17 
George  Fox  evidently  preached  the  possibility  of  com- 
plete freedom  from  sin.  But  he  was  very  careful  to 
avoid  presenting  the  mere  theory  or  "  notion  "  of  per- 
fection, which  was  common  among  all  the  types  of 
"  Ranters."  He  believed  that  Christ  came  to  destroy 
sin,  and  he  stoutly  held  that  when  He  ruled  in  a  man 
sin  and  the  dominion  of  it  were  done  away.  Man 
could  come  into  "  the  condition  Adam  was  in  before  he 
fell,"  to  use  his  own  expression.  One  of  his  most  fre- 
quent challenges  was  to  demand  that  modem  Chris- 


86  George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


Lord's  power  was  over  all,  though  they  were  chained 
under  darkness  and  sin,  which  they  pleaded  for,  and 
quenched  the  tender  thing  in  them. 

About  this  time  there  was  a  great  meeting  of  the 
Baptists,  at  Broughton,  in  Leicestershire,  with  some 
that  had  separated  from  them,  and  people  of  other 
notions  went  thither,  and  I  went  also.  Not  many  of 
the  Baptists  came,  but  many  others  were  there.  The 
Lord  opened  my  mouth,  ,and  the  everlasting  truth 
was  declared  amongst  them,  and  the  power  of  the 
Lord  was  over  them  all.  For  in  that  day  the  Lord's 
power  began  to  spring,  and  I  had  great  openings  in 
the  Scriptures.  Several  were  convinced  in  those 
parts  and  were  turned  from  darkness  to  light,  from 
the  power  of  Satan  unto  God,  and  many  were  raised 
up  to  praise  God.  When  I  reasoned  with  professors 
and  other  people,  some  became  convinced. 

I  went  back  into  l^ottinghamshire,  and  there  the 
Lord  showed  me  that  the  natures  of  those  things, 
Avhich  were  hurtful  without,  were  -within,  in  the 
hearts  and  minds  of  wicked  men.  The  natures  of 
dogs,  swine,  vipers,  of  Sodom  and  Egypt,  Pharaoh, 
Cain,  Ishmael,  Esau,  etc. ;  the  natures  of  these  I  saw 
within,  though  people  had  been  looking  without.  I 
cried  to  the  Lord,  saying,  "  "Why  should  I  be  thus,* 

*  That  is,  why  should  I  have  suffered  such  troubles  and  temptations. 


tians  should  come  into  "  the  same  life  and  power  which 
those  were  in  who  gave  forth  the  Scriptures."  But 
George  Fox's  test  of  holiness  was  the  practical  test  of 
daily  life.  No  man  was  to  be  accounted  holy  if  he  were 
not  in  fact  holy. 


Boyhood — A  Seeker. 


87 


seeing  I  was  never  addicted  to  commit  those  evils  ?  " 
and  the  Lord  answered,  "  That  it  was  needful  I 
should  have  a  sense  of  all  conditions,  how  else  should 
I  speak  to  all  conditions !  "  and  in  this  I  saw  the  in- 
finite love  of  God. 

I  saw,  also,  that  there  was  an  ocean,  of  darkness 
and  death;  but  an  infinite  ocean  of  light  and  love, 
which  flowed  over  the  ocean  of  darkness.  In  that 
also  I  saw  the  infinite  love  of  God,  and  I  had  great 
openings. 

Then  came  people  from  far  and  near  to  see  me; 
but  I  was  fearful  of  being  drawn  out  by  them;  yet 
I  was  made  to  speak,  and  open  things  to  them. 
There  was  one  Brown,  who  had  great  prophecies  and 
sights  upon  his  death-bed  of  me.  He  spoke  only  of 
what  I  should  be  made  instrumental  by  the  Lord  to 
bring  forth.  And  of  others  he  spoke,  that  they 
should  come  to  nothing,  which  was  fulfilled  on  some, 
who  then  were  something  in  show. 

When  this  man  was  buried  a  great  work  of  the 
Lord  fell  upon  me,  to  the  admiration  of  many, 
who  thought  I  had  been  dead,  and  many  came 
to  see  me  for  about  fourteen  days.  I  was  very 
much  altered  in  countenance  and  person,  as  if 
my  body  had  been  new  moulded  or  changed.*^ 


For  those  who  are  interested  in  the  psychology 
of  George  Fox  this  is  one  of  the  most  important  pas- 
sages in  the  Journal.  These  sweeping  psychical  and 
physical  changes  are  most  significant.  On  two  other 
occasions  of  his  life,  which  will  be  noted  later,  he  un- 
derwent similar,  though  perhaps  prot'ounder,  changes. 


88  George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


Mj  sorrows  and  troubles  began  to  wear  off,  and 
tears  of  joy  dropped  from  me,  so  that  I  could  have 
"wept  night  and  day  with  tears  of  joy  to  the  Lord, 
in  humility  and  brokenness  of  heart. 

I  saw  into  that  which  was  without  end,  things 
which  caimot  be  uttered,  and  of  the  greatness  and  in- 
finitude of  the  love  of  God,  which  cannot  be  ex- 
pressed by  words.  For  I  had  been  brought  through 
the  very  ocean  of  darkness  and  death,  and  through 
and  over  the  power  of  Satan,  by  the  eternal,  glorious 
power  of  Christ;  even  through  that  darkness  was  I 
brought,  which  covered  over  all  the  world,  and  which 
chained  down  all  and  shut  up  all  in  death.  The  same 
eternal  power  of  God,  which  brought  me  through 
these  things,  was  that  which  afterwards  shook  the 
nations,  priests,  professors  and  people. 

Then  could  I  say  I  had  been  in  spiritual  Baby- 
lon, Sodom,  EgA'pt,  and  the  gi-ave;  but  by  the 
eternal  power  of  God  I  was  come  out  of  it, 
and  was  brought  over  it,  and  the  power  of  it,  into  the 
power  of  Christ.  I  saw  the  harvest  white,  and  the 
seed  of  God  lying  thick  in  the  ground,  as  ever  did 
wheat  that  was  sown  outwardly,  and  none  to  gather 
it;  for  this  I  mourned  with  tears. 

A  report  went  abroad  of  me,  that  I  was  a  young 
man  that  had  a  discerning  spirit;  whereupon  many 


These  passages  in  the  Journal  reveal,  to  those  who  are 
familiar  with  such  phenomena,  the  fact  that  George 
Fox  was  subject  to  deep  subliminal  transformations. 
The  passage,  too,  throws  much  light  back  upon  his  long 
travail  through  distress  and  darkness. 


Boyhood — A  Seeker. 


89 


came  to  me,  from  far  and  near,  professors,  priests, 
and  people.  The  Lord's  power  broke  forth,  and  I 
had  great  openings  and  prophecies,  and  spoke  unto 
them  of  the  things  of  God,  which  they  heard  with  at- 
tention and  silence,  and  went  away  and  spread  the 
fame  thereof. 

Then  came  the  tempter  and  set  upon  me  again, 
charging  me  that  I  had  sinned  against  the  Holy 
Ghost;  but  I  could  not  tell  in  what.  Then  Paul's 
condition  came  before  me,  how  after  he  had  been 
taken  up  into  the  third  heaven,  and  seen  things  not 
lawful  to  be  uttered,  a  messenger  of  Satan  was  sent 
to  buffet  him.  Thus  by  the  power  of  Christ  I  got 
over  that  temptation  also. 


CHAPTEE  II. 


Eije  JFirst  ^tm  of  JHinistrg 

1648-1649. 

After  this*  I  went  to  Mansfield,  where  was  a  great 
meeting  of  professors  and  people.  Here  I  was  moved 
to  pray;  and  the  Lord's  power  was  so  great  that  the 
house  seemed  to  be  shaken.  When  I  had  done,  some 
of  the  professors  said  it  was  now  as  in  the  days  of  the 
apostles,  when  the  house  was  shaken  where  they 
were.^  After  I  had  prayed,  one  of  the  professors 
would  pray,  which  brought  deadness  and  a  veil  over 
them;  and  others  of  the  professors  were  grieved  at 
him  and  told  him  it  was  a  temptation  upon  him. 
Then  he  came  to  me,  and  desired  that  I  would  pray 
again ;  but  I  could  not  pray  in  man's  will. 

Soon  after  there  was  another  great  meeting  of  pro- 
fessors, and  a  captain,  whose  name  was  Amor  Stod- 
dard, came  in.  They  were  discoursing  of  the  blood 
of  Christ ;  and  as  they  were  discoursing  of  it,  I  saw, 

*  In  the  year  1648. 


^  William  Penn  gives  the  following  testimony  to 
Pox's  power  in  prayer: 

"  But  above  all  he  excelled  in  prayer.  The  inward- 
ness and  weight  of  his  spirit,  the  reverence  and 
solemnity  of  his  address  and  behaviour,  and  the  few- 
ness and  fulness  of  his  words,  have  often  struck,  even 
strangers,  with  admiration,  as  they  used  to  reach  others 


The  First  Years  of  Ministry.  91 


through  the  immediate  opening  of  the  invisible  Spirit, 
the  blood  of  Christ.  And  I  cried  out  among  them, 
and  said,  "  Do  ye  not  see  the  blood  of  Christ  ?  See 
it  in  your  hearts,  to  sprinkle  your  hearts  and  con- 
sciences from  dead  works,  to  serve  the  living  God  " ; 
for  I  saw  it,  the  blood  of  the  Kew  Covenant,  hoAV  it 
came  into  the  heart. ^ 

This  startled  the  professors,  who  would  have  the 
blood  only  without  them,  and  not  in  them.  But 
Captain  Stoddard  was  reached,  and  said,  "  Let  the 
youth  speak;  hear  the  youth  speak";  when  he  saw 
they  endeavoured  to  bear  me  down  with  many  words. 

There  was  also  a  company  of  priests,  that  were 
looked  upon  to  be  tender;  one  of  their  names  was 
Kellett ;  and  several  people  that  were  tender  went  to 
hear  them.  I  was  moved  to  go  after  them,  and  bid 
them  mind  the  Lord's  teaching  in  their  inward  parts. 
That  priest  Kellett  was  against  parsonages  then;  but 
afterwards  he  got  a  great  one,  and  turned  a  per- 
secutor. 

N^ow,  after  I  had  had  some  service  in  these  parts, 
I  went  through  Derbyshire  into  my  own  county, 


with  consolation.  The  most  awful,  living,  reverent 
frame  I  ever  felt  or  beheld,  I  must  say,  was  his  in 
prayer.  And  truly  it  was  a  testimony  he  knew  and 
lived  nearer  to  the  Lord  than  other  men." — Preface  to 
George  Fox's  "  Journal." 

*  This  is  a  characteristic  illustration  of  the  way  Fox 
passed  beyond  theories  and  doctrines,  and  demanded 
practical  life-results. 


92  George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


Leicestershire,  again,  and  several  tender  people  were 
convinced. 

Passing  thence,  I  met  with  a  great  company 
of  professors  in  Warwickshire,  who  were  pray- 
ing, and  expounding  the  Scriptures  in  the  fields. 
They  gave  the  Bible  to  me,  and  I  opened  it  on  the 
fifth  of  Matthew,  where  Christ  expounded  the  law; 
and  I  opened  the  inward  state  to  them,  and  the  out- 
ward state;  upon  which  they  fell  into  a  fierce  conten- 
tion, and  so  parted;  but  the  Lord's  power  got  ground. 

Then  I  heard  of  a  great  meeting  to  be  at  Leicester, 
for  a  dispute,  wherein  Presbyterians,  Independents, 
Baptists  and  Common-prayer-men  *  were  said  to  be 
all  concerned.  The  meeting  was  in  a  steeple-house; 
and  thither  I  was  moved  by  the  Lord  God  to  go,  and 
be  amongst  them.  I  heard  their  discourse  and  rea- 
sonings, some  being  in  pews,  and  the  priest  in  the 
pulpit ;  abundance  of  people  being  gathered  together. 

At  last  one  woman  asked  a  question  out  of  Peter, 
What  that  birth  was,  viz.,  a  being  born  again  of  incor- 
ruptible seed,  by  the  Word  of  God,  that  liveth  and 
abideth  for  ever  ?  And  the  priest  said  to  her,  "  I  per- 
mit not  a  woman  to  speak  in  the  church  " ;  though 
he  had  before  given  liberty  for  any  to  speak. 
Whereupon  I  was  wrapped  up,  as  in  a  rapture,  in  the 
Lord's  power;  and  I  stepped  up  and  asked  the  priest, 
"  Dost  thou  call  this  (the  steeple-house)  a  church  ? 
Or  dost  thou  call  this  mixed  multitude  a  church  ?  " 
For  the  woman  asking  a  question,  he  ought  to  have 
answered  it,  having  given  liberty  for  any  to  speak. 

But,  instead  of  answering  me,  he  asked  me  what  a 

*That  is,  members  of  the  English  or  Episcopal  Church. 


The  First  Years  of  Ministry.  93 


church,  was?  I  told  him  the  church  was  the  pillar 
and  ground  of  truth,  made  up  of  living  stones,  living 
members,  a  spiritual  household,  which  Christ  was  the 
head  of;  but  he  was  not  the  head  of  a  mixed  multi- 
tude, or  of  an  old  house  made  up  of  lime,  stones  and 
wood.' 

This  set  them  all  on  fire.  The  priest  came  down 
from  his  pulpit,  and  others  out  of  their  pews, 
and  the  dispute  there  was  marred.  I  went  to  a  great 
inn,  and  there  disputed  the  thing  mth  the  priests  and 
professors,  who  were  all  on  fire.  But  I  maintained 
the  true  church,  and  the  true  head  thereof,  over  their 
heads,  till  they  all  gave  out  and  fled  away.  One  man 
seemed  loving,  and  appeared  for  a  wliile  to  join  with 
me;  but  he  soon  turned  against  me,  and  joined  with 
a  priest  in  pleading  for  infant-baptism,  though  him- 
self had  been  a  Baptist  before;  so  he  left  me  alone. 
Howbeit,  there  were  several  convinced  that  day;  the 
woman  that  asked  the  question  was  convinced,  and 
her  family;  and  the  Lord's  power  and  glory  shone 
over  all. 

After  this  I  returned  into  N^ottinghamshire  again, 
and  went  into  the  Vale  of  Beavor.*    As  I  went,  I 


"  The  Friends  from  the  time  of  Fox  until  the  present 
have  been  careful  to  use  the  word  "  church  "  only  for 
the  comraimity  of  spiritual  believers.  The  cathedrals 
and  churches  were  called  "  steeple-houses,"  and  their 
own  places  of  worship  were  called  "  meeting-houses." 

*  A  beautiful  valley  southwest  of  Nottingham,  near 
the  edge  of  the  counties  of  Nottinghamshire  and  Lei- 
cestershire, just  west  of  Bardon  Hills. 


94  George  Fox:  An  Autobiography 


preached  repentance  to  the  people.  There  were  many 
convinced  in  the  Vale  of  Beavor,  in  many  towns;  for 
I  stayed  some  weeks  amongst  them. 

One  morning,  as  I  was  sitting  by  the  fire, 
a  great  cloud  came  over  me,  and  a  temptation 
beset  me;  and  I  sat  still.  It  was  said,  "  All 
things  come  by  nature";  and  the  elements  and 
stars  came  over  me,  so  that  I  was  in  a  manner  quite 
clouded  with  it.  But  as  I  sat  still  and  said  nothing, 
the  people  of  the  house  perceived  nothing.  And  as  I 
sat  stUl  under  it  and  let  it  alone,  a  living  hope  and  a 
true  voice  arose  in  me,  which  said,  "  There  is  a  liv- 
ing God  who  made  all  things."  ^  Immediately  the 
cloud  and  temptation  vanished  away,  and  life  rose 
over  it  all;  my  heart  was  glad,  and  I  praised  the  liv- 
ing God. 

After  some  time  I  met  with  some  people  who 
had  a  notion  that  there  was  no  God,  but  that  all 
things  come  by  natiire.  I  had  a  great  dispute  with 
them,  and  overturned  them,  and  made  some  of  them 
confess  that  there  is  a  living  God.  Then  I  saw  that 
it  was  good  that  I  had  gone  through  that  exercise.* 
We  had  great  meetings  in  those  parts;  for  the  power 
of  the  Lord  broke  through  in  that  side  of  the  coun- 
try. 

Returning  into  !N"ottinghamshire,  I  found  there 
a  company  of  shattered  Baptists,  and  others.  The 
Lord's  power  wrought  mightily,  and  gathered  many 
of  them.   Afterwards  I  went  to  Mansfield  and  there- 

*  He  means  experience. 

^  See  Whittier's  poem,  "  Revelation." 


The  First  Years  of  Ministry. 


95 


away,  where  the  Lord's  power  was  wonderfully  mani- 
fested both  at  Mansfield  and  other  towns  there- 
abouts. 

In  Derbyshire  the  mighty  power  of  God  wrought 
in  a  wonderful  manner.  At  Eton,  a  town  near 
Derby,  there  was  a  meeting  of  Friends,"  where 
appeared  such  a  mighty  power  of  God  that  they  were 
greatly  shaken,  and  many  mouths  were  opened  in  the 
power  of  the  Lord  God.  Many  were  moved  by  the 
Lord  to  go  to  steeple-houses,  to  the  priests  and  peo- 
ple, to  declare  the  everlasting  truth  unto  them. 

At  a  certain  time,  when  I  was  at  Mansfield,  there 
was  a  sitting  of  the  justices  aboiit  hiring  of  servants; 
and  it  was  upon  me  from  the  Lord  to  go  and  speak 
to  the  justices,  that  they  should  not  oppress  the  ser- 
vants in  their  wages.  So  I  walked  towards  the  inn 
where  they  sat;  but  finding  a  company  of  fiddlers 
there,  I  did  not  go  in,  but  thought  to  'come  in  the 
morning,  when  I  might  have  a  more  serious  oppor- 
tunity to  discourse  with  them. 

But  when  I  came  in  the  morning,  they  were  gone, 
and  I  was  struck  even  blind,  that  I  could  not  see.  I 
inquired  of  the  innkeeper  where  the  justices  were  to 
sit  that  day ;  and  he  told  me,  at  a  town  eight  miles  off. 


*  There  is  no  account  of  the  origin  of  this  meeting, 
which  seems  to  have  been  in  existence  before  Fox  came 
to  Eton.  There  seems  to  have  been  considerable 
definite  work  done  which  is  not  detailed  in  the  "  Jour- 
nal." [See  "  Epistles,"  Vol.  I.,  page  2,  "  Truth  sprang 
up  (to  us  as  to  be  a  people  of  the  Lord)  in  Derbyshire 
in  1647."]     Eton  is  in  Derbyshire. 


96  George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


My  sight  began  to  come  to  me  again ;  and  I  went  and 
ran  thitherward  as  fast  as  I  could.  When  I  was  come 
to  the  house  where  they  were,  and  many  servants 
with  them,  I  exliorted  the  justices  not  to  oppress  the 
servants  in  their  wages,  but  to  do  that  which  was 
right  and  just  to  them;  and  I  exhorted  the  servants 
to  do  their  duties,  and  serve  honestly.'  They  all 
received  my  exhortation  kindly;  for  I  was  moved  of 
the  Lord  therein. 

Moreover,  I  was  moved  to  go  to  several  courts  and 
steeple-houses  at  Mansfield,  and  other  places,  to  warn 
them  to  leave  off  oppression  and  oaths,  and  to  turn 
from  deceit  to  the  Lord,  and  to  do  justly.  Particu- 
larly at  Mansfield,  after  I  had  been  at  a  court  there, 
I  was  moved  to  go  and  speak  to  one  of  the  most 
wicked  men  in  the  country,  one  who  was  a  common 
drunkard,  a  noted  whore-master,  and  a  rhyme- 
maker;  and  I  reproved  him  in  the  dread  of  the 
mighty  God,  for  his  evil  courses. 

When  I  had  done  speaking,  and  left  him,  he  came 
after  me,  and  told  me  that  he  was  so  smitten  when  I 
spoke  to  him,  that  he  had  scarcely  any  strength  left 
in  him.  So  this  man  was  convinced,  and  turned  from 
his  wickedness,  and  remained,  an  honest,  sober  man, 
to  the  astonishment  of  the  people  who  had  known 
him  before. 

Thus  the  work  of  the  Lord  went  forward,  and 
many  were  turned  from  the  darkness  to  the  light. 


'  This  is  an  interesting  illustration  of  Fox's  sensi- 
tiveness to  wrong  social  conditions  and  of  the  practical 
character  of  his  religion. 


The  First  Years  of  Ministry. 


97 


within  the  compass  of  these  three  years,  1646,  1647 
and  1648.  Divers  meetings  of  Friends,  in  several 
places,  were  then  gathered  to  God's  teaching,  by  his 
light,  Spirit,  and  power;  for  the  Lord's  power  broke 
forth  more  and  more  wonderfully. 

Kow  I  was  come  up  in  spirit  through  the  flaming 
sword,  into  the  paradise  of  God.  All  things  were 
new ;  and  all  the  creation  gave  unto  me  another  smell 
than  before,  beyond  what  words  can  utter.  I  knew 
nothing  but  pureness,  and  innocency,  and  righteous- 
ness ;  being  renewed  into  the  image  of  God  by  Christ 
Jesus,  to  the  state  of  Adam,  which  he  was  in  before 
he  fell.  The  creation  was  opened  to  me;  and  it  was  j 
showed  me  how  all  things  had  their  names  given  \ 
them  according  to  their  nature  and  virtue. 

I  was  at  a  stand  in  my  mind  whether  I  should  prac- 
tise physic  for  the  good  of  mankind,  seeing  the 
nature  and  virtues  of  things  were  so  opened  to  me 
by  the  Lord.  But  I  was  immediately  taken  up  in 
spirit  to  see  into  another  or  more  steadfast  state  than 
Adam's  innocency,  even  into  a  state  in  Christ  Jesus 
that  should  never  fall.  And  the  Lord  showed  me 
that  such  as  were  faithful  to  Him,  in  the  power  and 
light  of  Christ,  should  come  up  into  that  state  in 
which  Adam  was  before  he  fell;  in  which  the  admir- 
able works  of  the  creation,  and  the  virtues  thereof, 
may  be  known,  throiigh  the  openings  of  that  divine 
Word  of  wisdom  and  power  by  which  they  were 
made. 

Great  things  did  the  Lord  lead  me  into,  and  won- 
derful depths  were  opened  unto  me,  beyond  what  can 
by  words  be  declared;  but  as  people  come  into  sub- 


98  George.  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


jection  to  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  grow  up  in  the 
image  and  power  of  the  Almighty,  they  may  receive 
the  Word  of  wisdom  that  opens  all  things,  and  come 
to  know  the  hidden  unity  in  the  Eternal  Being.* 

Thus  I  travelled  on  in  the  Lord's  service,  as  He  led 
me.  When  I  came  to  I^ottingham,  the  mighty  power 
of  God  was  there  among  Friends.®  From  thence  I 
went  to  Clawson,  in  Leicestershire,  in  the  Vale  of 
Beavor;  and  the  mighty  power  of  God  appeared 
there  also,  in  several  towns  and  villages  where 
Friends  were  gathered. 

While  I  was  there  the  Lord  opened  to  me  three 
things  relating  to  those  three  great  professions  in 
the  world, — law,  physic,  and  divinity  (so  called).  He 
showed  me  that  the  physicians  were  out  of  the  wis- 
dom of  God,  by  which  the  creatures  were  made;  and 


*  This  passage  which  records  a  striking  personal  ex- 
perience is  undated.  It  is  strangely  like  an  experience 
of  the  great  German  mystic,  Jacob  Boehme,  whose 
works  were  published  in  England  about  the  time  Fox 
was  beginning  his  missionary  labors.  He,  too,  had  all 
nature  opened  to  him,  so  that  he  says  he  saw  the  true 
significance  and  essence  of  things.  See  Jacob  Boehme, 
"  Signatura  Eerum,"  which  was  published  in  English 
in  1649.  Muggleton,  in  his  "  Looking  Glass  for  G. 
Fox"  (second  edition,  1756,  page  10),  says  that  the 
writings  of  Boehme  are  the  "  chief  books  "  bought  by 
the  followers  of  Fox. 

®  The  name  "  Friends  "  is  apparently  used  as  former- 
ly on  page  77  to  designate  the  gatherings  of  persons 
who  sympathized  with  Fox's  message  and  who  after- 
wards were  called  "  Friends." 


The  First  Years  of  Ministry.  99 


knew  not  the  virtues  of  the  creatures,  because  they 
were  out  of  the  Word  of  wisdom,  by  which  they  were 
made.  He  showed  me  that  the  priests  were  out  of 
the  true  faith,  of  which  Christ  is  the  author, — the 
faith  which  purifies,  gives  victory  and  brings  people 
to  have  access  to  God,  by  which  they  please  God;  the 
mystery  of  which  faith  is  held  in  a  pure  conscience. 
He  showed  me  also  that  the  lawyers  were  out  of  the 
equity,  out  of  the  true  justice,  and  out  of  the  law  of 
God,  which  went  over  the  first  transgression,  and  over 
all  sin,  and  answered  the  Spirit  of  God  that  was 
grieved  and  transgressed  in  man;  and  that  these 
three, — the  physicians,  the  priests,  and  the  lawyers, 
— ruled  the  world  out  of  the  vsdsdom,  out  of  the 
faith,  and  out  of  the  equity  and  law  of  God ;  one  pre- 
tending the  cure  of  the  body,  another  the  cure  of  the 
soul,  and  the  third  the  protection  of  the  property  of 
the  people.  But  I  saw  they  were  all  out  of  the  wis- 
dom, out  of  the  faith,  out  of  the  equity  and  perfect 
law  of  God. 

And  as  the  Lord  opened  these  things  unto  me  I 
felt  that  His  power  went  forth  over  all,  by  which  all 
might  be  reformed  if  they  would  receive  and  bow 
unto  it.  The  priests  might  be  reformed  and  brought 
into  the  true  faith,  which  is  the  gift  of  God.  The 
lawyers  might  be  reformed  and  brought  into  the  law 
of  God,  which  answers  that  [indwelling  Spirit]  of 
God  ^°  Avhich  is  [in  every  one,  is]  transgressed  in 


^"  One  could  wish  that  this  important  account  of 
Fox's  practical  mission  to  the  world  were  more  clearly 
expressed  than  is  here  done  in  his  phraseology,  which 


100         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

every  one,  and  [which  yet,  if  heeded]  brings  one  to 
love  his  neighbour  as  himself.  This  lets  man  see  that 
if  he  wrongs  his  neighbour,  he  wrongs  himself;  and 
teaches  him  to  do  nnto  others  as  he  would  they 
should  do  imto  him.  The  physicians  might  be  re- 
formed and  brought  into  the  wisdom  of  God,  by 
which  all  things  were  made  and  created;  that  they 
might  receive  a  right  knowledge  of  the  creatures, 
and  understand  their  virtues,  which  the  Word  of 
wisdom,  by  which  they  were  made  and  are  upheld, 
hath  given  them. 

Abundance  was  opened  concerning  these  things; 
how  all  lay  out  of  the  wisdom  of  God,  and  out  of  the 
righteousness  and  holiness  that  man  at  the  first  was 
made  in.  But  as  all  believe  in  the  Light,  and  walk 
in  the  Light, — that  Light  with  which  Christ  hath 
enlightened  every  man  that  cometh  into  the  world, — 
and  become  children  of  the  Light,  and  of  the  day  of 
Christ,  all  things,  visible  and  invisible,  are  seen,  by 
the  divine  Light  of  Christ,  the  spiritual  heavenly 
man,  by  whom  all  things  were  created. 

Moreover,  when  I  was  brought  up  into  His  image 


needs  translation  into  modern  terms.  There  is,  he 
means  to  say,  a  universal  Divine  principle  or  law  of 
life  which  finds  expression  or  voice  in  every  soul. 
"  That  of  God  "  in  the  individual  "  answers  "  or  cor- 
responds with  the  universal  Divine  principle.  But, 
unfortunately,  this  Divine  Light  within  is  disobeyed, 
and  thus  men  are  astray — out  of  their  true  life  and 
function.  Fox's  mission  is  to  call  all  such  to  obedience 
to  "  that  of  God  "  within  them. 


The  First  Years  of  Ministry. 


101 


in  righteousness  and  holiness,  and  into  the  paradise 
of  God  He  let  me  see  how  Adam  was  made  a  living 
sonl ;  and  also  the  stature  of  Christ,  the  mystery  that 
had  been  hid  from  ages  and  generations:  which 
things  are  hard  to  be  uttered,  and  cannot  be  borne  by 
many.  For  of  all  the  sects  in  Christendom  (so 
called)  that  I  discoursed  with,  I  found  none  who 
could  bear  to  be  told  that  any  should  come  to  Adam's 
perfection, — into  that  image  of  God,  that  righteous- 
ness and  holiness,  that  Adam  was  in  before  he  fell; 
to  be  clean  and  pure,  without  sin,  as  he  was.  There- 
fore how  shall  they  be  able  to  bear  being  told  that 
any  shall  grow  up  to  the  measure  of  the  stature  of 
the  fulness  of  Christ,  when  they  cannot  bear  to  hear 
that  any  shall  come,  whilst  upon  earth,  into  the  same 
power  and  Spirit  that  the  prophets  and  apostles  were 
in  ? — though  it  be  a  certain  truth  that  none  can  un- 
derstand their  writings  aright  without  the  same  Spirit 
by  which  they  were  written. 

Now  the  Lord  God  opened  to  me  by  His  invisible 
power  that  every  man  was  enlightened  by  the  divine 
Light  of  Christ,"  and  I  saw  it  shine  through  all;  and 
that  they  that  believed  in  it  came  out  of  condem- 
nation to  the  Light  of  life,  and  became  the  children 
of  it;  but  they  that  hated  it,  and  did  not  believe  in  it, 
were  condemned  by  it,  though  they  made  a  profession 


This  is  the  central  teaching  of  George  Fox. 
Everything  else  comes  out  of  this  elemental  truth.  It 
is,  as  he  says,  clearly  enough  taught  in  the  Scriptures, 
hut  he  now  saw  the  truth  as  an  immediate  revelation — 
as  a  primary  fact  of  experience. 


102         George  Fox:  An  Autohiography. 

of  Christ.  This  I  saw  in  the  pure  openings  of  the 
Light  without  the  help  of  any  man ;  neither  did  I 
then  know  where  to  find  it  in  the  Scriptures;  though 
afterwards,  searching  the  Scriptures,  I  found  it.  For 
I  saw,  in  that  Light  and  Spirit  which  was  before  the 
Scriptures  were  given  forth,  and  which  led  the  holy 
men  of  God  to  give  them  forth,  that  all,  if  they 
would  know  God  or  Christ,  or  the  Scriptures  aright, 
must  come  to  that  Spirit  by  which  they  that  gave 
them  forth  were  led  and  taught. 

On  a  certain  time,  as  I  was  walking  in  the  fields, 
the  Lord  said  xnito  me,  "  Thy  name  is  Avritten  in  the 
Lamb's  book  of  life,  which  was  before  the  founda- 
tion of  the  world":  and  as  the  Lord  spoke  it,  I 
believed,  and  saw  in  it  the  new  birth.  Some  time 
after  the  Lord  commanded  me  to  go  abroad  into  the 
world,  which  was  like  a  briery,  thorny  wilderness. 
When  I  came  in  the  Lord's  mighty  power  with  the 
Word  of  life  into  the  world,  the  world  swelled,  and 
made  a  noise  like  the  great  iraging  waves  of  the  sea. 
Priests  and  professors,  magistrates  and  people,  were 
all  like  a  sea  when  I  came  to  proclaim  the  day  of  the 
Lord  amongst  them,  and  to  preach  repentance  to 
them. 

I  was  sent  to  turn  people  from  darkness  to  the 
Light,  that  they  might  receive  Christ  Jesus;  for  to 
as  many  as  should  receive  Him  in  His  Light,  I  saw 
He  would  give  power  to  become  the  sons  of  God; 
which  power  I  had  obtained  by  receiving  Christ.  I 
was  to  direct  people  to  the  Spirit  that  gave  forth  the 
Scriptures,  by  which  they  might  be  led  into  all  truth, 


The  First  Years  of  Ministry. 


103 


and  up  to  Christ  and  God,  as  those  had  been  who 
gave  them  forth. 

Yet  I  had  no  slight  esteem  of  the  holy  Scriptures. 
They  were  very  precious  to  me;  for  I  was  in  that 
Spirit  by  which  they  were  given  forth;  and  what  the 
Lord  opened  in  me  I  afterwards  found  was  agreeable 
to  them.  I  could  speak  much  of  these  things,  and 
many  volumes  might  be  written  upon  them;  but  all 
would  prove  too  short  to  set  forth  the  infinite  love, 
wisdom,  and  power  of  God,  in  preparing,  fitting,  and 
furnishing  me  for  the  service  to  which  He  had 
appointed  me;  letting  me  see  the  depths  of  Satan  on 
the  one  hand,  and  opening  to  me,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  divine  mysteries  of  His  own  everlasting  kingdom. 

When  the  Lord  God  and  His  Son  Jesus  Christ 
sent  me  forth  into  the  world  to  preach  His  everlast- 
ing gospel  and  kingdom,  I  was  glad  that  I  was  com- 
manded to  turn  people  to  that  inward  Light,  Spirit, 
and  Grace,  by  which  all  might  know  their  salvation 
and  their  way  to  God ;  even  that  Divine  Spirit  which 
would  lead  them  into  all  truth,  and  which  I  infallibly 
knew  would  never  deceive  any.^^ 

But  with  and  by  this  divine  power  and  Spirit  of 
God,  and  the  Light  of  Jesus,  I  was  to  bring  people  off 


The  soul's  own  assurance  of  salvation  was  well  pro- 
claimed by  Luther,  but  the  high  and  joyous  experience 
was  well-nigh  lost  in  Calvinistic  England.  Fox  re- 
affirms the  privilege  of  this  experience.  He  proclaims 
no  man's  infallibility,  but  rather  the  infallibility  of  the 
Spirit,  in  union  with  which  a  man  may  know  that  he 
pleases  God. 


104         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

from  all  their  oavh  ways,  to  Christ,  the  new  and  liv- 
ing way;  and  from  their  churches,  which  men  had 
made  and  gathered,  to  the  Church  in  God,  the  gen- 
eral assembly  written  in  heaven,  of  which  Christ  is 
the  head.  And  I  was  to  bring  them  off  from  the 
world's  teachers,  made  by  men,  to  learn  of  Christ, 
who  is  the  Way,  the  Truth,  and  the  Life,  of  whom 
the  Father  said,  "  This  is  my  beloved  Son,  hear  ye 
Him";  and  off  from  all  the  world's  worships,  to 
know  the  Spirit  of  Truth  in  the  inward  parts,  and 
to  be  led  thereby;  that  in  it  they  might  worship  the 
Father  of  spirits,  who  seeks  such  to  worship  Him. 
And  I  saw  that  they  that  worshipped  not  in  the 
Spirit  of  Truth,  knew  not  what  they  worshipped. 

And  I  was  to  bring  people  off  from  all  the  world's 
religions,  which  are  vain,  that  they  might  know  the 
pure  religion;  might  visit  the  fatherless,  the  widows, 
and  the  strangers,  and  keep  themselves  from  the 
spots  of  the  world.  Then  there  would  not  be  so 
many  beggars,  the  sight  of  whom  often  grieved  my 
heart,  as  it  denoted  so  much  hard-heartedness 
amongst  them  that  professed  the  name  of  Christ. 

I  was  to  bring  them  off  from  all  the  world's  fellow- 
ships, and  prayings,  and  singings,  which  stood  in 
forms  without  power;  that  their  fellowship  might  be 
in  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  in  the  Eternal  Spirit  of  God ; 
that  they  might  pray  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  sing  in 
the  Spirit  and  with  the  grace  that  comes  by  Jesus; 
making  melody  in  their  hearts  to  the  Lord,  who  hath 
sent  His  beloved  Son  to  be  their  Saviour,  and  hath 
caused  His  heavenly  sun  to  shine  upon  all  the  world, 
and  His  heavenly  rain  to  fall  upon  the  just  and  the 


llie  First  Years  of  Ministry. 


105 


unjust,  as  His  outward  rain  doth  fall,  and  His  out- 
ward sun  doth  shine  on  all. 

I  was  to  bring  people  off  from  Jewish  ceremonies, 
and  from  heathenish  fables,"  and  from  men's  inven- 
tions and  worldly  doctrines,  by  which  they  blew  the 
people  about  this  way  and  the  other,  from  sect  to 
sect;  and  from  all  their  beggarly  rudiments,  with 
their  schools  and  colleges  for  making  ministers  of 
Christ, — who  are  indeed  ministers  of  their  own  mak- 
ing, but  not  of  Christ's;  and  from  all  their  images, 
and  crosses,  and  sprinkling  of  infants,  mth  all  their 
holy-days  (so  called),  and  all  their  vain  traditions, 
which  they  had  instituted  since  the  Apostles'  days, 
against  all  of  which  the  Lord's  power  was  set :  in  the 
dread  and  authority  of  which  power  I  was  moved  to 
declare  against  them  all,  and  against  all  that 
preached  and  not  freely,  as  being  such  as  had  not 
received  freely  from  Christ. 

Moreover,  when  the  Lord  sent  me  forth  into  the 
world.  He  forbade  me  to  put  off  my  hat  to  any,  high 
or  low;  and  I  was  required  to  Thee  and  Thou  all  men 
and  women,  without  any  respect  to  rich  or  poor, 
great  or  small.^*    And  as  I  travelled  up  and  down  I 


By  a  clear  spiritual  insight  Fox  saw  how  large  a 
contribution  both  Judaism  and  Paganism  had  made  to 
the  historic  church.  He  went  to  work  to  carry  the 
reformation  to  its  logical  conclusion.  To  re-instate 
primitive  Christianity  was  his  aim. 

^*  The  real  principles  here  involved  were  simplicity 
of  life,  equal  respect  for  all  men  alike,  and  strict  sin- 
cerity.   It  must  be  confessed  that  these  principles 


106  George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

was  not  to  bid  people  Good  morrow,  or  Good  even- 
ing; neither  might  I  bow  or  scrape  with  my  leg  to 
any  one;  and  this  made  the  sects  and  professions  to 
rage.  But  the  Lord's  power  carried  me  over  all  to 
His  glory,  and  many  came  to  be  turned  to  God  in  a 
little  time;  for  the  heavenly  day  of  the  Lord  sprung 
from  on  high,  and  broke  forth  apace,  by  the  light  of 
which  many  came  to  see  where  they  were. 

Oh,  the  blows,  punchings,  beatings,  and  imprison- 
ments tliat  we  underwent  for  not  putting  off  our  hats 
to  men !  Some  had  their  hats  violently  plucked  off 
and  thrown  away,  so  that  they  quite  lost  them.  The 
bad  language  and  evil  usage  we  received  on  this 
account  are  hard  to  be  expressed,  besides  the  danger 
we  were  sometimes  in  of  losing  our  lives  for  this  mat- 
ter; and  that  by  the  great  professors  of  Christianity, 
who  thereby  discovered  they  were  not  true  believers. 

And  though  it  was  but  a  small  thing  in  the  eye  of 
man,  yet  a  wonderful  confusion  it  brought  among  all 
professors  and  priests;  but,  blessed  be  the  Lord, 
many  came  to  see  the  vanity  of  that  custom  of  put- 
ting off  the  hat  to  men,  and  felt  the  weight  of  Truth's 
testimony*  against  it. 

About  this  time  I  was  sorely  exercised  in  going  to 
their  courts  to  cry  for  justice,  in  speaking  and  writ- 
ing to  judges  and  justices  to  do  justly;  in  warning 
such  as  kept  public  houses  for  entertainment  that 

*  That  is,  the  testimony  of  the  Spirit. 

have  sometimes  been  lost  sight  of,  and  dress  and  lan- 
guage have  sometimes  become  a  form  to  those  who 
opposed  all  forms. 


The  First  Years  of  Ministry.  107 


they  should  not  let  people  have  more  drink  than 
would  do  them  good;  in  testifying  against  wakes, 
feasts,  May-games,  sports,  plays,  and  shows,  which 
trained  up  people  to  vanity  and  looseness,  and  led 
them  from  the  fear  of  God;  and  the  days  set  forth 
for  holidays  were  usually  the  times  wherein  they 
most  dishonoured  God  by  these  things. 

In  fairs,  also,  and  in  markets,!  was  made  to  declare 
against  their  deceitful  merchandise,  cheating,  and 
cozening;  warning  all  to  deal  justly,  to  speak  the 
truth,  to  let  their  yea  be  yea,  and  their  nay  be  nay, 
and  to  do  unto  others  as  they  would  have  others  do 
unto  them;  forewarning  them  of  the  great  and  ter- 
rible dav  of  the  Lord,  which  would  come  upon  them 
all. 

I  was  moved,  also,  to  cry  against  all  sorts  of  music, 
and  against  the  mountebanks  playing  tricks  on  their 
stages;  for  they  burthened  the  pure  life,  and  stirred 
up  people's  minds  to  vanity.  I  was  much  exercised, 
too,  with  school-masters  and  school-mistresses,  warn- 
ing them  to  teach  children  sobriety  in  the  fear  of  the 
Lord,  that  they  might  not  be  nursed  and  trained  up 
in  lightness,  vanity,  and  wantonness.  I  was  made  to 
warn  masters  and  mistresses,  fathers  and  mothers  in 
private  families,  to  take  care  that  their  children  and 
servants  might  be  trained  up  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord, 
and  that  themselves  should  be  therein  examples  and 
patterns  of  sobriety  and  virtue  to  them. 

The  earthly  spirit  of  the  priests  wounded  my  life; 
and  when  I  heard  the  bell  toll  to  call  people  together 
to  the  steeple-house,  it  struck  at  my  life;  for  it  was 
just  like  a  market-bell,  to  gather  people  together, 


108         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

that  the  priest  might  set  forth  his  ware  for  sale.  Oh, 
the  vast  sums  of  money  that  are  gotten  by  the  trade 
they  make  of  selling  the  Scriptures,  and  by  their 
preaching,  from  the  highest  bishop  to  the  lowest 
priest !  What  one  trade  else  in  the  world  is  com- 
parable to  it  ?  notwithstanding  the  Scriptures  were 
given  forth  freely,  and  Christ  commanded  His  minis- 
ters to  preach  freely,  and  the  prophets  and  apostles 
denounced  judgment  against  all  covetous  hirelings 
and  diviners  for  money. 

But  in  this  free  Spirit  of  the  Lord  Jesus  was  I  sent 
forth  to  declare  the  Word  of  life  and  reconciliation 
freely,  that  all  might  come  to  Christ,  who  gives 
freely,  and  who  renews  up  into  the  image  of  God, 
which  man  and  woman  were  in  before  they  fell,  that 
they  might  sit  down  in  heavenly  places  in  Christ 
Jesus. 


CHAPTER  III. 


Eijc  Cijallmge  anti  tijc  jfirst  Easte  of  ^Prison 

1648-1649. 

Now,  as  I  went  towards  Nottingham,  on  a  First- 
day,  in  the  morning,  going  with  Friends  to  a  meeting 
there,  when  I  came  on  the  top  of  a  hill  in  sight  of  the 
town,  I  espied  the  great  steeple-house.  And  the 
Lord  said  unto  me,  "  Thou  must  go  cry  against  yon- 
der great  idol,  and  against  the  worsliippers  therein." 

I  said  nothing  of  this  to  the  Friends  that  were 
with  me,  but  went  on  with  them  to  the  meeting, 
where  the  mighty  power  of  the  Lord  was  amongst 
us;  in  which  I  left  Friends  sitting  in  the  meeting,  and 
went  away  to  the  steeple-house.  When  I  came  there, 
all  the  people  looked  like  fallow  ground;  and  the 
priest  (like  a  great  lump  of  earth)  stood  in  his  pulpit 
above. 

He  took  for  his  text  these  words  of  Peter,  "  We 
have  also  a  more  sure  Word  of  prophecy,  whereunto 
ye  do  well  that  ye  take  heed,  as  unto  a  light  that 
shineth  in  a  dark  place,  until  the  day  dawn,  and  the 
day-star  arise  in  your  hearts."  And  he  told  the  peo-  , 
pie  that  this  was  the  Scriptures,  by  which  they  were 
to  try  all  doctrines,  religions,  and  opinions. 

Now  the  Lord's  power  was  so  mighty  upon  me,  and  , 
so  strong  in  me,  that  I  could  not  hold,  but  was  made 
to  cry  out  and  say,  "  Oh,  no;  it  is  not  the  Scrip- 
tures !  "  and  I  told  them  what  it  was,  namely,  the 
Holy  Spirit,  by  which  the  holy  men  of  God  gave 


110         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


forth  the  Scriptures,  whereby  opinions,  religions,  and 
judgments  were  to  be  tried;  for  it  led  into  all  truth, 
and  so  gave  the  knowledge  of  all  truth.  The  Jews 
had  the  Scriptures,  and  yet  resisted  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  rejected  Christ,  the  bright  morning  star.  They 
persecuted  Christ  and  Ilis  apostles,  and  took  upon 
them  to  try  their  doctrines  by  the  Scriptures;  but 
they  erred  in  judgment,  and  did  not  try  them  aright, 
because  they  tried  without  the  Holy  Ghost. 

As  I  spoke  thus  amongst  them,  the  officers  came 
and  took  me  away,  and  put  me  into  a  nasty,  stinking 
prison;  ^  the  smell  whereof  got  so  into  my  nose  and 
throat  that  it  very  much  annoyed  me. 

But  that  day  the  Lord's  power  sounded  so  in  their 
ears  that  they  were  amazed  at  the  voice,  and  could 
not  get  it  out  of  their  ears  for  some  time  after,  they 
were  so  reached  by  the  Lord's  power  in  the  steeple- 
house.  At  night  they  took  me  before  the  mayor, 
aldermen,  and  sheriffs  of  the  town;  and  when  I  was 
brought  before  them,  the  mayor  was  in  a  peevish, 
fretful  temper,  but  the  Lord's  power  allayed  him. 
They  examined  me  at  large ;  and  I  told  them  how  the 
Lord  had  moved  me  to  come.  After  some  discourse 
between  them  and  me,  they  sent  me  back  to  prison 
again.     Some  time  after,  the  head  sheriff,  whose 


^  This  is  one  of  the  very  few  instances  in  his  entire 
career  when  Fox  interrupted  a  minister.  It  was 
neither  illegal  nor  contrary  to  custom  for  any  one  to 
speak  after  the  minister  was  done — a  privilege  which 
Fox  often  used.  On  this  particular  occasion,  his  feeb 
ing  overmastered  him,  and  he  spoke  before  his  time. 


The  Challenge: — First  Taste  of  Prison.  Ill 


name  was  John  Reckless,  sent  for  me  to  his  house. 
When  I  came  in,  his  wife  met  me  in  the  hall,  and 
said,  "  Salvation  is  come  to  our  house."  She  took  me 
by  the  hand,  and  was  much  wrought  upon  by  the 
power  of  the  Lord  God;  and  her  husband,  and  chil- 
dren, and  servants  were  much  changed,  for  the  power 
Df  the  Lord  wrought  upon  them. 

I  lodged  at  the  sheriff's,  and  great  meetings  we  had 
in  his  house.  Some  persons  of  considerable  condi- 
tion in  the  world  came  to  them,  and  the  Lord's  power 
appeared  eminently  amongst  them. 

This  sheriff  sent  for  the  other  sheriff,  and  for  a 
woman  they  had  had  dealings  with  in  the  way  of 
trade;  and  he  told  her,  before  the  other  sheriff,  that 
they  had  wronged  her  in  their  dealings  with  her  (for 
the  other  sheriff  and  he  were  partners),  and  that 
they  ought  to  make  her  restitution.  This  he  spoke 
cheerfully;  but  the  other  sheriff  denied  it,  and  the 
woman  said  she  knew  nothing  of  it.  But  the  friendly 
sheriff  said  it  was  so,  and  that  the  other  knew  it  well 
enough;  and  having  discovered  the  matter,  and 
acknowledged  the  wrong  done  by  them,  he  made 
restitution  to  the  woman,  and  exhorted  the  other 
sheriff  to  do  the  like.  The  Lord's  power  was  with 
this  friendly  sheriff,  and  wrought  a  mighty  change 
in  him;  and  great  openings  he  had. 

The  next  market-day,  as  he  was  walking  with  me 
in  the  chamber,  he  said,  "  I  must  go  into  the  market, 
and  preach  repentance  to  the  people."  Accordingly 
he  went  in  his  slippers  into  the  market,  and  into  sev- 
eral streets,  and  preached  repentance  to  the  people. 
Several  others  also  in  the  town  were  moved  to  speak 


112         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

to  the  mayor  and  magistrates,  and  to  the  people, 
exhorting  them  to  repent.  Hereupon  the  magis- 
trates grew  very  angry,  sent  for  me  from  the  sheriff's 
house  and  committed  me  to  the  common  prison. 

When  the  assize  came  on,  one  person  was  moved 
to  come  and  offer  up  himself  for  me,  body  for  body, 
yea,  life  also;  but  when  I  should  have  been  brought 
before  the  judge,  the  sheriff's  man  being  somewhat 
long  in  bringing  me  to  the  sessions-house,  the  judge 
was  risen  before  I  came.  At  which  I  understood  the 
judge  was  offended,  and  said,  "  I  would  have  admon- 
ished the  youth  if  he  had  been  brought  before  me  ": 
for  I  was  then  imprisoned  by  the  name  of  a  youth. 
So  I  was  returned  to  prison  again,  and  put  into  the 
common  jail. 

The  Lord's  power  was  great  among  Friends;  but 
the  people  began  to  be  very  rude:  wherefore  the  gov- 
ernor of  the  castle  sent  soldiers,  and  dispersed  them. 
After  that  they  were  quiet.  Both  priests  and  peo- 
ple were  astonished  at  the  wonderful  power  that 
broke  forth.  Several  of  the  priests  were  made  ten- 
der, and  some  did  confess  to  the  power  of  the  Lord. 

After  I  was  set  at  liberty  from  Nottingham  jail, 
where  I  had  been  kept  prisoner  a  pretty  long  time, 
I  travelled  as  before,  in  the  work  of  the  Lord. 

Coming  to  Mansfield-Woodhouse,  I  found  there  a 
distracted  woman  imdcr  a  doctor's  hand,  with  her 
hair  loose  about  her  ears.  He  was  about  to  let  her 
blood,^  she  being  first  bound,  and  many  people  about 


^  This  gives  a  glimpse  at  the  medical  practice  of  the 
time.    Fox  frequently  showed  remarkable  power  in 


The  Challenge: — First  Taste  of  Prison.  113 


her,  holding  her  by  violence;  but  he  could  get  no 
blood  from  her. 

I  desired  them  to  unbind  her  and  let  her  alone,  for 
they  could  not  touch  the  spirit  in  her  by  which  she 
was  tormented.  So  they  did  imbind  her;  and  I  was 
moved  to  speak  to  her,  and  in  the  name  of  the  Lord 
to  bid  her  be  quiet;  and  she  was  so.  The  Lord's 
power  settled  her  mind,  and  she  mended.  After- 
wards she  received  the  truth,  and  continued  in  it  to 
her  death;  and  the  Lord's  name  was  honoured. 

Many  great  and  wonderful  things  were  wrought  by 
the  heavenly  power  in  those  days;  for  the  Lord  made 
bare  His  omnipotent  arm,  and  manifested  His  power, 
to  the  astonishment  of  many,  by  the  healing  virtue 
whereby  many  have  been  delivered  from  great 
infirmities.  And  the  devils  were  made  subject 
through  His  name;  of  which  particular  instances 
might  be  given,  beyond  what  this  unbelieving  age  is 
able  to  receive  or  bear. 

I^ow  while  I  was  at  Mansfield-Woodhouse,  I  was 
moved  to  go  to  the  steeple-house  there,  and  declare 


dealing  with  cases  of  hysteria,  such  as  the  one  here 
reported.  He  evidently  did  not  understand  the  nature 
of  the  disease.  But  his  commanding  presence,  his 
piercing  eye  (testified  to  by  even  his  persecutors),  and 
the  absolute  assurance  which  his  voice  gave  that  he  was 
equal  to  the  occasion,  were  worth  a  thousand  doctors 
with  their  lancets.  Those  who  understand  the  psy- 
chology of  suggestion,  and  the  effect  of  faith  on  certain 
diseases,  will  hardly  question  the  simple  accounts  given 
here  and  elsewhere. 


114         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

the  truth  to  the  priest  and  people;  but  the  people 
fell  upon  me  in  great  "rage,  struck  me  down,  and  al- 
most stifled  and  smothered  me;  and  I  was  cruelly 
beaten  and  bruised  by  them  with  their  hands,  and 
with  Bibles  and  sticks.  Then  they  haled  me  out, 
though  I  was  hardly  able  to  stand,  and  put  me  into 
the  stocks,  where  I  sat  some  hours;  and  they  brought 
dog-whips  and  horse-whips,  threatening  to  whip  me. 

After  some  time  they  had  me  before  the  magis- 
trate, at  a  knight's  house,  where  were  many  great 
persons;  who,  seeing  how  evilly  I  had  been  used, 
after  much  threatening,  set  me  at  liberty.  But  the 
rude  people  stoned  me  out  of  the  town,  for  preaching 
the  Word  of  life  to  them. 

I  "was  scarcely  able  to  move  or  stand  by  reason  of 
the  ill  usage  I  had  received;  yet  with  considerable 
effort  I  got  about  a  mile  from  the  town,  and  then  I 
met  with  some  people  who  gave  me  something  to 
comfort  me,  because  I  was  inwardly  bruised ;  but  the 
Lord's  power  soon  healed  me  again.  That  day  some 
people  were  convinced  of  the  Lord's  truth,  and 
turned  to  His  teaching,  at  which  I  rejoiced. 

Then  I  went  into  Leicestershire,  several  Friends 
accompanying  me.  There  were  some  Baptists  in  that 
country,  whom  I  desired  to  see  and  speak  with,  be- 
cause they  were  separated  from  the  pubhc  worship. 
So  one  Oates,  who  was  one  of  their  chief  teachers, 
and  others  of  the  heads  of  them,  with  several  others 
of  their  company,  came  to  meet  us  at  Barrow;  and 
there  we  discoursed  with  them. 

One  of  them  said  that  what  was  not  of  faith  was 
sin,  whereupon  I  asked  them  what  faith  was  and  how 


The  Challenge: — First  Taste  of  Prison.  115 

it  was  wrougiit  in  man.  But  they  turned  off  frona 
that,  and  spoke  of  their  baptism  in  water.  Then  I 
asked  them  whether  their  mountain  of  sin  was 
brought  down  and  laid  low  in  them  and  their  rough 
and  crooked  ways  made  smooth  and  straight  in  them, 
— for  thoy  looked  upon  the  Scriptures  as  meaning 
outward  mountains  and  ways.^  But  I  told  them  they 
must  find  these  things  in  their  own  hearts;  at  which 
they  seemed  to  wonder. 

We  asked  them  who  baptized  John  the  Baptist, 
and  who  baptized  Peter,  John  and  the  rest  of  the 
apostles,  and  put  them  to  prove  by  Scripture  that 
these  were  baptized  in  water;  but  they  were  silent. 
Then  I  asked  them,  "  Seeing  Judas,  who  betrayed 
Christ,  and  was  called  the  son  of  perdition,  had 
hanged  himself,  what  son  of  perdition  was  that 
of  which  Paul  spoke,  that  sat  in  the  temple  of  God, 
exalted  above  all  that  is  called  God  ?  and  what  tem- 
ple of  God  was  that  in  which  this  son  of  perdition 
sat  ?  "  And  I  asked  them  whether  ho  that  betrays 
Christ  within  himself  be  not  one  in  nature  with  that 
Judas  that  betrayed  Christ  without.  But  they  could 
not  tell  what  to  make  of  this,  nor  what  to  say  to  it. 
So,  after  some  discourse,  we  parted;  and  some  of 
them  were  loving  to  us. 

On  the  First-day  following  we  came  to  Bagworth, 
and  went  to  a  steeple-house,  where  some  Friends 


'  As  everywhere,  he  is  interested  in  the  state  of  the 
person  himself,  and  in  the  real  and  vital  things  of 
religion.  Many  of  Fox's  followers  came  from  the 
Baptists. 


116         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

were  got  in,  and  the  people  locked  them  in,  and 
themselves,  too,  with  the  priest.  But,  after  the 
priest  had  done,  they  opened  the  door,  and  we  went 
in  also,  and  had  service  for  the  Lord  amongst  them. 
Afterwards  we  had  a  meeting  in  the  town,  amongst 
several  that  were  in  high  notions. 

Passing  thence,  I  heard  of  a  people  in  prison  at 
Coventry  for  religion.  As  I  walked  towards  the  jail, 
the  word  of  the  Lord  came  to  me,  saying,  "  My  love 
was  always  to  thee,  and  thou  art  in  my  love."  And 
I  was  ravished  with  the  sense  of  the  love  of  God,  and 
greatly  strengthened  in  my  inward  man.  But  when 
I  came  into  the  jail  where  those  prisoners  were,  a 
great  power  of  darkness  struck  at  me ;  and  I  sat  still, 
having  my  spirit  gathered  into  the  love  of  God. 

At  last  these  prisoners  began  to  rant,  vapour,  and 
blaspheme;  at  Avhich  my  soul  was  greatly  grieved. 
They  said  that  they  were  God;  but  we  could  not 
bear  such  things.  When  they  were  calm,  I  stood  up 
and  asked  them  whether  they  did  such  things  by  mo- 
tion, or  from  Scripture.  They  said,  "  From  Scrip- 
ture." Then,  a  Bible  lying  by,  I  asked  them  for  that 
Scripture;  and  they  showed  me  that  place  where  the 
sheet  was  let  dovm  to  Peter;  and  it  was  said  to  him 
that  what  was  sanctified  he  should  not  call  common 
or  unclean.  When  I  had  showed  them  that  that 
Scripture  made  nothing  for  their  purpose,  they 
brought  another,  which  spake  of  God's  reconciling 
all  things  to  Himself,  things  in  heaven  and  things  in 
earth.  I  told  them  I  owned  that  Scripture  also;  but 
showed  them  that  it  likewise  was  nothing  to  their 
purpose. 


The  Challenge: — First  Taste  of  Prison.  117 

Tlicn,  seeing  they  said  that  they  were  God,  I  asked 
them  if  they  knew  whether  it  would  rain  to-morrow. 
They  said  they  could  not  tell.  I  told  them  God  could 
tell.  I  asked  them  if  they  thought  they  should  be 
always  in  that  condition,  or  should  change.  They 
answered  that  they  could  not  tell.  "  Then,"  said  I, 
"  God  can  tell,  and  He  doth  not  change.  You  say 
you  are  God,  and  yet  you  cannot  tell  whether  you 
shall  change  or  no."  So  they  were  confounded,  and 
quite  brought  down  for  the  time. 

After  I  had  reproved  them  for  their  blasphemous 
expressions,  I  went  away;  for  I  perceived  they  were 
Ranters.  I  had  met  with  none  before;  and  I  admired 
the  goodness  of  the  Lord  in  appearing  so  imto  me 
before  I  went  amongst  them.  J^ot  long  after  this 
one  of  these  Ranters,  whose  name  was  Joseph 
Salmon,  published  a  recantation;  \ipon  which  they 
were  set  at  liberty. 


CHAPTEE  IV. 


^  Hear  in  ©erbg  3atl 

1650-1651. 

As  I  travelled  through  markets,  fairs,  and  divers 
places,  I  saw  death  and  darkness  in  all  people  where 
the  power  of  the  Lord  God  had  not  shaken  them. 
As  I  was  passing  on  in  Leicestershire  I  came  to  Twy- 
Cross,  where  there  were  excise-men.  I  was  moved 
of  the  Lord  to  go  to  them,  and  warn  them  to  take 
heed  of  oppressing  the  poor;  and  people  wore  much 
affected  with  it. 

There  was  in  that  to-mi  a  great  man  that  had  long 
lain  sick,  and  was  given  up  by  the  physicians;  and 
some  Friends  in  the  town  desired  me  to  go  to  see 
him.  I  went  up  to  him  in  his  chamber,  and  spoke 
the  Word  of  life  to  him,  and  was  moved  to  pray  by 
him;  and  the  Lord  was  entreated,  and  restored  him 
to  health.  But  when  I  was  come  down  stairs,  into  a 
lower  room,  and  was  speaking  to  the  servants,  and  to 
some  people  that  were  there,  a  serving-man  of  his 
came  raving  out  of  another  room,  with  a  naked 
rapier  in  his  hand,  and  set  it  just  to  my  side.  I 
looked  steadfastly  on  him,  and  said,  "  Alack  for  thee, 
poor  creature !  what  wilt  thou  do  with  thy  carnal 
weapon  ?  It  is  no  more  to  me  than  a  straw."  The 
bystanders  were  much  troubled,  and  he  went  away 
in  a  rage  and  full  of  wrath.  But  when  the  news  of 
it  came  to  his  master,  he  turned  him  out  of  his  ser- 
vice. 


A  Year  in  Derby  Jail.  119 


Thus  the  Lord's  power  preserved  me  and  raised 
up  the  weak  man,  who  afterwards  was  very  loving 
to  Friends;  and  when  I  came  to  that  town  again  both 
he  and  his  wife  came  to  see  me. 

After  this  I  was  moved  to  go  into  Derbyshire, 
where  the  mighty  power  of  God  was  among  Friends. 
And  I  went  to  Chesterfiekl,  where  one  Britland  was 
priest.  He  saw  beyond  the  common  sort  of  priests, 
for  he  had  been  partly  convinced,  and  had  spoken 
much  on  behalf  of  Truth  before  he  Avas  priest  there; 
but  when  the  priest  of  that  town  died,  he  got  the  par- 
sonage, and  choked  himself  with  it.  I  was  moved  to 
speak  to  him  and  the  people  in  the  great  love  of  God, 
that  they  might  come  off  from  all  men's  teaching 
unto  God's  teaching;  and  he  Avas  not  able  to  gainsay. 

But  they  had  me  before  the  mayor,  and  threatened 
to  send  me,  with  some  others,  to  the  house  of  cor- 
rection, and  kept  us  in  custody  till  it  was  late  in  the 
night.  Then  the  officers,  with  the  watchmen,  put  us 
out  of  the  town,  leaving  us  to  shift  as  we  could.  So 
I  bent  my  course  towards  Derby,  haAdng  a  friend  or 
two  with  me.  In  our  way  we  met  with  many  profes- 
sors; and  at  Kidsey  Park  many  were  convinced. 

Then,  coming  to  Derby,  I  lay  at  the  house  of  a 
doctor,  whose  wife  was  convinced;  and  so  were  sev- 
eral more  in  the  town.  As  I  was  walking  in  my 
chamber,  the  [steeple-house]  bell  rang,  and  it  struck 
at  my  life  at  the  very  hearing  of  it;  so  I  asked  the 
woman  of  the  house  what  the  bell  rang  for.  She 
said  there  was  to  be  a  great  lecture  there  that  day, 
and  many  of  the  officers  of  the  army,  and  priests,  and 


120         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


preachers  were  to  be  there,  and  a  colonel,  that  was  a 
preacher. 

Then  was  I  moved  of  the  Lord  to  go  up  to  them; 
and  when  they  had  done  I  spoke  to  them  what  the 
Lord  commanded  me,  and  they  were  pretty  quiet. 
But  there  came  an  officer  and  took  me  by  the  hand, 
and  said  that  I  and  the  other  two  that  were  with  me 
must  go  before  the  magistrates.  It  was  about  the 
first  hour  after  noon  that  we  came  before  them. 

They  asked  me  why  we  came  thither.  I  said  God 
moved  us  so  to  do;  and  I  told  them,  "  God  dwells 
not  in  temples  made  with  hands."  I  told  them  also 
that  all  their  preaching,  baptism  and  sacrifices  would 
never  sanctify  them,  and  bade  them  look  unto  Christ 
within  them,  and  not  imto  men ;  for  it  is  Christ  that 
sanctifies.  Then  they  ran  into  many  words;  but  I 
told  them  they  were  not  to  dispute  of  God  and 
Christ,  but  to  obey  Him.^ 

The  power  of  God  thundered  among  them,  and 
they  did  fly  like  chaff  before  it.  They  put  me  in  and 
out  of  the  room  often,  hurrying  me  backward  and 
fomard,  for  they  were  from  the  first  hour  till  the! 
ninth  at  night  in  examining  me.  Sometimes  they 
woiild  tell  me  in  a  deriding  manner  that  I  was  taken  ^ 
up  in  raptures. 

At  last  they  asked  me  whether  I  was  sanctified. 
I  answered,    Yes;  for  I  am  in  the  paradise  of  God."  ^ 
Then  they  asked  me  if  I  had  no  sin.    I  answered. 


*  No  single  sentence  better  sums  up  George  Fox's 
whole  theology  than  this:  "I  told  them  they  were  not 
to  dispute  of  God  and  Christ,  hut  to  obey  Him.'" 


A  Year  in  Derby  Jail. 


121 


"  Christ  mj  Saviour  has  taken  away  my  sin;  and  in 
Him  there  is  no  sin."  They  asked  how  we  knew 
that  Christ  did  abide  in  us.  I  said,  "  By  His  Spirit, 
that  He  hath  given  us."  They  temptingly  asked  if 
any  of  us  were  Christ.  I  answered,  "  Nay;  we  are 
nothing;  Christ  is  all."  They  said,  "  If  a  man  steal, 
is  it  no  sin  ?  "  I  answered,  "  All  unrighteousness  is 
sin."  ^ 

When  they  had  wearied  themselves  in  examining 
me,  they  committed  me  and  one  other  man  to  the 
house  of  correction  in  Derby  for  six  months,  as  blas- 
phemers,^ as  may  appear  by  the  mittimus,  a  copy 
whereof  here  followeth: 

"  To  the  master  of  the  house  of  correction  in 
Derby,  greeting: 

"  We  have  sent  you  herewithal  the  bodies  of 
George  Fox,  late  of  Mansfield,  in  the  county  of  Not- 
tingham, and  John  Fretwell,  late  of  Staniesby,  in 


^  These  answers  sufficiently  differentiate  George 
Fox  from  the  "  Ranters." 

*  Here  begins  Fox's  first  serious  imprisonment.  The 
charge  was  direct  and  distinct.  He  was  committed  as  a 
bkisphemer.  Under  the  law  passed  by  both  Houses  of 
Parliament,  in  1648,  Fox  might  easily  have  been  con- 
demned to  suffer  a  death  penalty.  It  was  an  offense, 
punishable  by  death,  to  deny  that  the  Scriptures  arei 
the  Word  of  God,  or  that  the  bodies  of  men  shall  rise 
after  they  are  dead.  It  was  blasphemy  to  say  that  the 
two  sacraments  of  Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper  are 
not  commanded  by  God.  It  was  also  blasphemy  to 
declare  that  man  has  by  nature  free  will  to  turn  to 


122         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

the  county  of  Derby,  husbandman,  brought  before  us 
this  present  day,  and  charged  with  the  avowed  utter- 
ing and  broaching  of  divers  blasphemous  opinions, 
contrary  to  the  late  Act  of  Parliament;  which,  upon 
their  examination  before  us,  they  have  confessed. 
These  are  therefore  to  require  you  forthwith,  upon 
sight  hereof,  to  receive  them,  the  said  George  Fox 
and  John  Fretwell,  into  your  custody,  and  them 
therein  safely  to  keep  during  the  space  of  six  months, 
without  bail  or  mainprize,  or  until  they  shall  find 
sufficient  security  to  be  of  good  behaviour,  or  be 
thence  delivered  by  order  from  ourselves.  Hereof 
you  are  not  to  fail.  Given  imder  our  hands  and  seals 
this  30th  day  of  October,  1650. 

"  Gervase  Bennet, 
"  Nath.  Barton." 

While  I  was  here  in  prison  divers  professors  came 
to  discourse  with  me.  I  had  a  sense,  before  they 
spoke,  that  they  came  to  plead  for  sin  and  imperfec- 
tion. I  asked  them  whether  they  were  believers  and 
had  faith.  They  said,  "  Yes."  I  asked  them,  "  In 
whom?  "     They  said,  "  In  Christ."    I  replied.  "  If 


God.  It  was,  of  course,  not  difficult  to  find  a  charge 
of  the  violation  of  this  drag-net  act. 

From  Derby  prison  he  wrote  many  letters,  to  the 
magistrates,  to  the  justices,  to  the  "  priests,"  to  the 
court  at  Derby,  to  the  mayor,  to  the  individual  justices, 
and  to  "  the  ringers  of  bells  in  steeple-houses."  He 
calls  them  all  to  obedience  to  the  light  within  them. 
"  Mind  that  which  is  eternal  and  invisible."  "  Keep 
in  the  innocency  and  be  obedient  to  the  faith  in  Him." 


A  Year  in  Derby  Jail.  123 


ye  are  true  believers  in  Christ,  you  are  passed  from 
death,  to  life;  and  if  passed  from  death,  then  from 
sin  that  bringeth  death ;  and  if  your  faith  be  true,  it 
will  give  you  victory  over  sin  and  the  devil,  purify 
your  hearts  and  consciences  (for  the  true  faith  is  held 
in  a  pure  conscience),  and  bring  you  to  please  God, 
and  give  you  access  to  Him  again." 

But  they  could  not  endure  to  hear  of  purity,  and 
of  victory  over  sin  and  the  devil.  They  said  they 
could  not  believe  any  could  be  free  from  sin  on  this 
side  of  the  grave.  I  bade  them  give  over  babbling 
about  the  Scriptures,  which  were  holy  men's  words, 
whilst  they  pleaded  for  unholiness. 

At  another  time  a  company  of  professors  came, 
who  also  began  to  plead  for  sin.  I  asked  them 
whether  they  had  hope.  They  said,  "  Yes:  God  for- 
bid but  we  should  have  hope."  I  asked  them, 
"  What  hope  is  it  that  you  have  ?  Is  Christ  in  you  the 
hope  of  your  glory?  Doth  it  purify  you,  as  He  is 
pure  ? "  But  they  could  not  abide  to  hear  of  being 
made  pure  here.  Then  I  bade  them  forbear  talking 
of  the  Scriptures,  which  were  the  holy  men's  words; 
"  for,"  said  I,  "  the  holy  men  that  wrote  the  Scrip- 
tures pleaded  for  holiness  in  heart,  life,  and  con- 
versation here ;  but  since  you  plead  for  impurity  and 
sin,  which  is  of  the  devil,  what  have  you  to  do  with 
the  holy  men's  words  ?  " 

The  keeper  of  the  prison,  being  a  high  professor, 
was  greatly  enraged  against  me,  and  spoke  very  wick- 
edly of  me ;  but  it  pleased  the  Lord  one  day  to  strike 
him,  so  that  he  was  in  great  trouble  and  under  much 
terror  of  mind.    And,  as  I  was  walking  in  my  cham- 


124         Oeorge  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

her  I  heard  a  doleful  noise,  and,  standing  still,  I 
heard  him  say  to  his  wife,  "  Wife,  I  have  seen  the 
day  of  judgment,  and  I  saw  George  there;  and  I  was 
afraid  of  him,  because  I  had  done  him  so  much 
wrong,  and  spoken  so  much  against  him  to  the  min- 
isters and  professors,  and  to  the  justices,  and  in  tav- 
erns and  alehouses." 

After  this,  towards  the  evening,  he  came  into  my 
chamber,  and  said  to  me,  "  I  have  been  as  a  lion 
against  you ;  but  now  I  come  like  a  lamb,  and  like  the 
jailer  that  came  to  Paul  and  Silas  trembling."  And 
he  desired  he  might  lodge  with  me.  I  told  him  I 
was  in  his  power ;  he  might  do  what  he  would ;  but  he 
said,  "  I^ay,"  that  he  would  have  my  leave,  and  that 
he  could  desire  to  be  always  with  mc,  but  not  to  have 
me  as  a  prisoner.  He  said  he  had  been  plagued,  and 
his  house  had  been  plagued,  for  my  sake.  So  I  suf- 
fered him  to  lodge  with  me. 

Then  he  told  me  all  his  heart,  and  said  that  he  be- 
lieved what  I  had  said  of  the  true  faith  and  hope  to 
be  true;  and  he  wondered  that  the  other  man,  who 
was  put  in  prison  with  me,  did  not  stand  it ;  and  said, 
"  That  man  was  not  right,  but  you  are  an  honest 
man."  He  confessed  also  to  me  that  at  those  times 
when  I  had  asked  him  to  let  me  go  forth  to  speak 
the  word  of  the  Lord  to  the  people,  when  he  refused 
to  let  me  go,  and  I  laid  the  weight  thereof  upon  him, 
he  used  to  be  under  great  trouble,  amazed,  and  al- 
most distracted  for  some  time  after,  and  in  such  a 
condition  that  he  had  little  strength  left  him. 

When  the  morning  came  he  rose  and  went  to  the 
justices,  and  told  them  that  he  and  his  house  had  been 


A  Year  in  Derhj  Jail. 


125 


plagued  for  my  sake.  One  of  the  justices  replied 
(as  he  reported  to  me)  that  the  plagues  were  upon 
them,  too,  for  keeping  me.  This  was  Justice  Bennet, 
of  Derby,  who  was  the  first  that  called  us  Quakers, 
because  I  bade  them  tremble  at  the  word  of  the 
Lord.*   This  was  in  the  year  1650. 

After  this  the  justices  gave  leave  that  I  should 
have  liberty  to  w^alk  a  mile.  I  perceived  their  end, 
and  told  the  jailer,  that  if  they  would  set  down  to 
me  how  far  a  mile  was,  I  might  take  the  liberty  of 
walking  it  sometimes.  For  I  had  a  sense  that  they 
thought  I  would  go  away.  And  the  jailer  confessed 
afterwards  they  did  it  with  that  intent,  to  have  me  go 
away,  to  ease  them  of  their  plague ;  but  I  told  him  I 
was  not  of  that  spirit. 

While  I  was  in  the  house  of  correction  ray  rela- 
tions came  to  see  me;  and,  being  troubled  for  my  ira- 


*  This  is  the  whole  of  our  data  for  the  origin  of  the 
name  "  Quaker."  Fox  told  the  Justice  to  tremble  at  the 
word  of  the  Lord,  and  the  Justice  thereupon  fixed  the 
name  "  quaker  "  upon  him.  There  is  probably,  how- 
ever, something  back  of  this  particular  incident  which 
helped  give  the  name  significance.  The  editors  of  the 
New  English  Dictionary  (see  the  word  Quaker)  have 
discovered  the  fact  that  this  name  for  a  religious  sect 
was  not  entirely  new  at  this  time.  Letter  No.  2,624  of 
the  Clarendon  collection,  written  in  1G47,  speaks  of  a 
sect  from  the  continent  possessed  of  a  remarkable 
capacity  for  trembling  or  quaking:  "  I  heare  of  a  sect 
of  woenien  (they  are  at  Southworke)  come  from  beyond 
the  Sea.  called  quakers.  and  these  swell,  shiver  and 
shake,  and  when  they  come  to  themselves  (for  in  all 


126         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

prisonment,  they  went  to  the  justices  that  cast  me 
into  prison  and  desired  to  have  me  home  with  them, 
offering  to  be  bound  in  one  hundred  pounds,  and 
others  of  Derby  in  fifty  pounds  apiece  with  them, 
that  I  should  come  no  more  thither  to  declare  against 
the  priests. 

So  I  was  taken  up  before  the  justices;  and  because 
I  would  not  consent  that  they  or  any  should  be 
bound  for  me  (for  I  was  innocent  of  any  ill  be- 
haviour, and  had  spoken  the  Word  of  life  and  truth 
unto  them),  Justice  Bennet  rose  up  in  a  rage;  and,  as 
I  was  kneeling  down  to  pray  to  the  Lord  to  forgive 
him,  he  ran  upon  me,  and  struck  me  with  both  his 
hands,  crying,  "  Away  with  him,  jailer;  take  him 
away,  jailer."  Whereupon  I  was  taken  again  to 
prison,  and  there  kept  till  the  time  of  my  commit- 
ment for  six  months  was  expired. 

But  I  had  now  the  liberty  of  walking  a  mile  by 
myself,  which  I  made  use  of  as  I  felt  freedom.  Some- 
times I  went  into  the  market  and  streets,  and  warned 
the  people  to  repent  of  their  wickedness,  and  re- 

this  fitt  Mahomett's  holy-ghost  hath  bin  conversing 
with  them)  they  begin  to  preach  what  hath  been  deliv- 
ered to  them  by  the  Spirit."  It  seems  probable  that 
Justice  Bennet  merely  employed  a  term  of  reproach 
already  familiar.  It  is,  further,  evident  that  the 
Friends  themselves  were  sometimes  given  to  trembling, 
and  that  the  name  came  into  general  use  because  it 
fitted.  (See  Sewel's  "History  of  the  People  Called 
Quakers,"  Vol.  I.,  p.  63.  Philadelphia,  1823.)  The 
name  first  appears  in  the  records  of  Parliament,  in  the 
Journals  of  the  House  of  Commons,  in  1654. 


A  Year  in  Derby  Jail.  127 


turned  to  prison  again.  And  there  being  persons  of 
several  sorts  of  religion  in  the  prison,  I  sometimes 
visited  them  in  their  meetings  on  First-days. 

While  I  was  yet  in  the  house  of  correction  there 
came  unto  me  a  trooper,  and  said  that  as  he  was  sit- 
ting in  the  steeple-house,  hearing  the  priest,  exceed- 
ing great  trouble  fell  upon  him;  and  the  voice  of  the 
Lord  came  to  him,  saying,  "  Dost  thou  not  know  that 
my  servant  is  in  prison  ?  Go  to  him  for  direction." 
So  I  spake  to  his  condition,  and  his  iinderstanding 
was  opened.  I  told  him  that  that  which  showed  him 
his  sins,  and  troubled  him  for  them,  would  show  him 
his  salvation;  for  He  that  shows  a  man  his  sin  is  the 
same  that  takes  it  away. 

While  I  was  speaking  to  him  the  Lord's  power 
opened  his  mind,  so  that  he  began  to  have  a  good  un- 
derstanding in  the  Lord's  truth,  and  to  be  sensible  of 
God's  mercies.  He  spoke  boldly  in  his  quarters 
amongst  the  soldiers,  and  to  others,  concerning  truth 
(for  the  Scriptures  were  very  much  opened  to  him), 
insomuch  that  he  said  that  his  colonel  was  "  as  blind 
as  Nebuchadnezzar,  to  cast  the  servant  of  the  Lord 
into  prison." 

Upon  this  his  colonel  conceived  a  spite  against 
him,  and  at  Worcester  fight,  the  year  after,  when  the 
two  armies  lay  near  one  another,  and  two  came  out 
from  the  king's  army  and  challenged  any  two  of  the 
Parliament  army  to  fight  with  them,  his  colonel 
made  choice  of  him  and  another  to  answer  the  chal- 
lenge. When  in  the  encounter  his  companion  was 
slain,  he  drove  both  his  enemies  within  musket-shot 
of  the  town  without  firing  a  pistol  at  them.  This, 


128         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

when  lie  returned,  he  told  me  with  his  own  mouth. 
But  when  the  fight  was  over  he  saw  the  deceit  and 
hypocrisy  of  the  officers,  and,  being  sensible  how 
wonderfully  the  Lord  had  preserved  him,  and  seeing 
also  to  the  end  of  fighting,  he  laid  down  his  arms. 

The  time  of  my  commitment  to  the  house  of  cor- 
rection being  very  nearly  ended,  and  there  being 
many  new  soldiers  raised,  the  commissioners  would 
have  made  me  captain  over  them;  and  the  soldiers 
cried  out  that  they  would  have  none  but  me.  So  the 
keeper  of  the  house  of  correction  was  commanded  to 
bring  me  before  the  commissioners  and  soldiers  in 
the  market-place,  where  they  offered  me  that  prefer- 
ment, as  they  called  it,  asking  me  if  I  would  not  take 
up  arms  for  the  Commonwealth  against  Charles 
Stuart.  I  told  them  I  knew  whence  all  wars  arose, 
even  from  the  lusts,  according  to  James'  doctrine; 
and  that  I  lived  in  the  virtue  of  that  life  and  power 
that  took  away  the  occasion  of  all  wars.° 

Yet  they  courted  me  to  accept  of  their  offer,  and 
thought  I  did  but  compliment  them.  But  I  told 
them  I  was  come  into  the  covenant  of  peace,  which 
was  before  wars  and  strifes  were.  They  said  they 
offered  it  in  love  and  kindness  to  me  because  of  my 
virtue;  and  such-like  flattering  words  they  used.  But 
I  told  them,  if  that  was  their  love  and  kindness,  I 
trampled  it  under  my  feet. 

Then  their  rage  got  up,  and  they  said,  "  Take  him 


'  This  is  the  true  ground  of  opposition  to  war, 
namely,  that  a  Christian  is  to  live  a  life  that  does  away 
with  the  occasion  for  war. 


A  Year  in  Derby  Jail.  129 


away,  jailer,  and  put  him  into  the  prison  amongst 
the  rogues  and  felons."  So  I  was  put  into  a  lousy, 
stinking  place,  without  any  bod,  amongst  thirty  fel- 
ons, where  I  was  kept  almost  half  a  year;  ^  yet  at 
times  they  would  let  me  walk  to  the  garden,  believ- 
ing I  would  not  go  away. 

When  they  had  got  me  into  Derby  prison,  it  was 
the  saying  of  people  that  I  would  never  come  out; 
but  I  had  faith  in  God  that  I  should  be  delivered  in 
His  time;  for  the  Lord  had  given  me  to  believe  that 
I  was  not  to  be  removed  from  that  place  yet,  being 
set  there  for  a  service  which  He  had  for  me  to  do. 

While  I  was  here  in  prison  there  was  a  young 
woman  in  the  jail  for  robbing  her  master.  When 
she  was  to  be  tried  for  her  life  I  wrote  to  the  judge 
and  jury,  showing  them  how  contrary  it  was  to  the 
law  of  God  in  old  time  to  put  people  to  death  for 
stealing,  and  moving  them  to  show  mercy.  Yet  she 
was  condemned  to  die,  and  a  grave  was  made  for  her, 
and  at  the  time  appointed  she  was  carried  forth  to 
execution.  Then  I  wrote  a  few  words,  warning  all 
to  beware  of  greediness  or  covetousness,  for  it  leads 
from  God;  and  that  all  should  fear  the  Lord,  avoid 
earthly  lusts,  and  prize  their  time  while  they  have  it ; 
this  I  gave  to  be  read  at  the  gallows.  And,  though 
they  had  her  upon  the  ladder,  with  a  cloth  bound 


"  He  was  imprisoned  on  a  definite  charge  for  six 
months,  and  then,  without  any  further  trial,  appar- 
ently because  he  would  not  join  Cromwell's  army,  he 
was  held  in  close  confinement  for  nearly  six  months 
more. 


130         George  Fox:  An  Auiohiograpliy. 

over  her  face,  ready  to  be  turned  off,  yet  they  did 
not  put  her  to  death,  but  brought  her  back  to  prison, 
where  she  afterwards  came  to  be  convinced  of  God's 
everlasting  truth. 

There  was  also  in  the  jail,  while  I  was  there,  a 
wicked,  ungodly  man,  who  was  reputed  a  conjurer. 
He  threatened  that  he  would  talk  with  me,  and 
boasted  of  what  he  would  do;  but  he  never  had 
power  to  open  his  mouth  to  me.  x\nd  the  jailer  and 
he  falling  out,  he  threatened  to  raise  the  devil  and 
break  his  house  do^\^l;  so  that  he  made  the  jailer 
afraid.  I  was  moved  of  the  Lord  to  go  in  His  power 
and  rebuke  him,  and  to  say  to  him,  "  Come,  let  us 
see  what  thou  canst  do;  do  thy  worst."  I  told  him 
that  the  devil  was  raised  high  enough  in  him  already; 
but  the  power  of  God  chained  him  down,  so  he  slunk 
away  from  me. 

The  time  of  Worcester  fight  coming  on,  Justice 
Bennet  sent  constables  to  press  me  for  a  soldier,  see- 
ing I  would  not  voluntarily  accept  of  a  command.  I 
told  them  that  I  was  brought  off  from  outward  wars. 
They  came  again  to  give  me  press-money;  but  I 
would  take  none.  Then  I  was  brought  up  to  Ser- 
geant Holes,  kept  there  awhile,  and  taken  down 
again.  Afterwards  the  constables  brought  me  a  sec- 
ond time  before  the  commissioners,  who  said  I 
should  go  for  a  soldier;  but  I  told  them  I  was  dead 
to  it.  They  said  I  was  alive.  I  told  them  that  where 
envy  and  hatred  is  there  is  confusion.  They  offered 
me  money  twice,  but  I  refused  it.  Being  disap- 
pointed, they  were  angry,  and  committed  me  close 
prisoner,  without  bail  or  mainprize. 


A  Year  in  Derby  Jail.  131 


Great  was  the  exercise  and  travail  in  spirit  that  I 
underwent  during  my  imprisonment  here,  because  of 
the  wickedness  that  was  in  this  town;  for  though 
some  were  convinced,  yet  the  generality  were  a 
hardened  people.  I  saw  the  visitation  of  God's  love 
pass  away  from  them.   I  mourned  over  them. 

There  was  a  great  judgment  upon  the  town,  and 
the  magistrates  were  uneasy  about  me;  but  they 
could  not  agree  what  to  do  with  me.  One  while  they 
would  have  sent  me  up  to  the  Parliament;  another 
while  they  would  have  banished  me  to  Ireland.  At 
first  they  called  me  a  deceiver,  a  seducer  and  a  blas- 
phemer. Afterwards,  when  God  had  brought  his 
plagues  upon  them,  they  styled  me  an  honest,  virtu- 
ous man.  But  their  good  report  and  bad  report  were 
nothing  to  me;  for  the  one  did  not  lift  me  up,  nor  the 
other  cast  me  down;  praised  be  the  Lord !  At  length 
they  were  made  to  turn  me  out  of  jail,  about  the  be- 
ginning of  winter,  in  the  year  1651,  after  I  had  been 
a  prisoner  in  Derby  almost  a  year, — six  months  in 
the  house  of  correction,  and  the  rest  of  the  time  in 
the  common  jail. 


CHAPTER  V. 


©ne  JHan  iHag  ^ijafte  tije  Countrg  for  Em  JHiles 

1651-1652. 

Being  again  at  liberty,  I  went  on,  as  before,  in  the 
work  of  the  Lord,  passing  through  the  country  into 
Leicestershire,  having  meetings  as  I  went;  and  the 
Lord's  Spirit  and  power  accompanied  me. 

Ab  I  was  walking  with  several  Friends,  I  lifted  up 
my  head  and  saw  three  steeple-house  spires,  and  they 
struck  at  my  life.  I  asked  them  what  place  that  was. 
They  said,  Lichfield."  Immediately  the  Word  of 
the  Lord  came  to  me  that  I  must  go  thither.  Being 
come  to  the  house  we  were  going  to,  I  wished  the 
Friends  to  walk  into  the  house,  saying  nothing  to 
them  of  whither  I  was  to  go.  As  soon  as  they  were 
gone  I  stepped  away,  and  went  by  my  eye  over  hedge 
and  ditch  till  I  came  within  a  mile  of  Lichfield, 
where,  in  a  great  field,  shepherds  were  keeping  their 
sheep. 

Then  was  I  commanded  by  the  Lord  to  pull  off  my 
shoes.  I  stood  still,  for  it  was  winter;  and  the  Word 
of  the  Lord  was  like  a  fire  in  me.  So  I  put  off  my 
shoes,  and  left  them  with  the  shepherds;  and  the 
poor  shepherds  trembled,  and  were  astonished.  Then 
I  walked  on  about  a  mile,  and  as  soon  as  I  was  got 
within  the  city,  the  Word  of  the  Lord  came  to  me 
again,  saying,  "  Cry,  '  Woe  to  the  bloody  city  of 
Lichfield !  '  "    So  I  went  up  and  down  the  streets, 


One  Man  May  Shake  the  Country.  133 


crying  with  a  loud  voice,  "  Woe  to  the  bloody  city 
of  Lichfield!  "  It  being  market-day,  I  went  into 
the  market-place,  and  to  and  fro  in  the  several  parts 
of  it,  and  made  stands,  crying  as  before,  "  Woe  to 
the  bloody  city  of  Lichfield !  "  And  no  one  laid 
hands  on  me. 

As  I  went  thus  crying  through  the  streets,  there 
seemed  to  me  to  be  a  channel  of  blood  running  down 
the  streets,  and  the  market-place  appeared  like  a  pool 
of  blood. 

When  I  had  declared  what  was  upon  me,  and 
felt  myself  clear,  I  went  out  of  the  town  in  peace, 
and,  returning  to  the  shepherds,  I  gave  them  some 
money,  and  took  my  shoes  of  them  again.  But  the 
fire  of  the  Lord  was  so  in  my  feet,  and  all  over  me, 
that  I  did  not  matter  to  put  on  my  shoes  again,  and 
was  at  a  stand  whether  I  should  or  no,  till  I  felt  free- 
dom from  the  Lord  so  to  do ;  then,  after  I  had  washed 
my  feet,  I  put  on  my  shoes  again. 

After  this  a  deep  consideration  came  upon  me, 
for  what  reason  I  should  be  sent  to  cry  against  that 
city,  and  call  it  the  bloody  city !  For,  though  the 
Parliament  had  had  the  minster  one  while,  and  the 
King  another,  and  much  blood  had  been  shed  in  the 
town  during  the  wars  between  them,  yet  that  was 
no  more  than  had  befallen  many  other  places.  But 
afterwards  I  came  to  understand,  that  in  the  Em- 
peror Diocletian's  time  a  thousand  Christians  were 
martyred  in  Lichfield.^ 


'  It  must  be  remembered  that  this  act  of  George  Fox 
occurred  at  the  close  of  a  year  of  imprisonment, 


134         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

Passing  on,  I  was  moved  of  the  Lord  to  go  to  Bev- 
erley steeple-house,  vphich  was  then  a  place  of  high 
profession;  and  being  very  wet  with  rain,  I  went  first 
to  an  inn.  As  soon  as  I  came  to  the  door,  a  young 
woman  of  the  house  came  to  the  door,  and  said, 
"  What,  is  it  you  ?  come  in,"  as  if  she  had  known  me 
before;  for  the  Lord's  power  bowed  their  hearts.  So 
I  refreshed  myseK  and  went  to  bed ;  and  in  the  morn- 
ing, my  clothes  being  still  wet,  I  got  ready,  and  hav- 
ing paid  for  Avhat  I  had  had  in  the  inn,  I  went  up  to 
the  steeple-house,  where  was  a  man  preaching. 
When  he  had  done,  I  was  moved  to  speak  to  him,  and 
to  the  people,  in  the  mighty  power  of  God,  and  to 
turn  them  to  their  teacher,  Christ  Jesus.  The  power 
of  the  Lord  was  so  strong,  that  it  struck  a  mighty 
dread  amongst  the  people.    The  mayor  came  and 


a  part  of  which  had  been  in  a  horrible  jail.  He 
was  throughout  his  life  restless  and  active  to  an 
extreme  degree.  For  an  entire  year,  Just  as  his 
work  was  getting  well  begun,  he  had  been  forced  to 
live  in  this  nut-shell  of  a  prison — day  after  day  inac- 
tive. Now  he  was  free  again,  and  the  old  restlessness 
to  be  doing  something  came  upon  him  with  irresistible 
force.  He  was  in  no  condition  to  inhibit  suggestions. 
It  is  quite  possible  that  some  subconscious  memory 
here  gave  the  suggestion.  In  1612  one  "Wightman  was 
burned  at  the  stake  in  Lichfield,  and  the  deed  was  fresh 
in  the  minds  of  men  at  this  time.  Then  the  name 
Lichfield  means  "  field  of  dead  bodies,"  a  name  which 
doubtless  had  its  origin  in  some  baptism  of  blood,  and 
George  in  his  boyhood  may  have  heard  some  tale  of 
those  bloody  times. 


One  Man  May  Shake  the  Country.  135 

spoke  a  few  words  to  me;  but  none  of  them  had  any 
power  to  meddle  with  me. 

So  I  passed  away  out  of  the  town,  and  in  the  after- 
noon went  to  another  steeple-house  about  two  miles 
off.  When  the  priest  had  done,  I  was  moved  to  speak 
to  him,  and  to  the  people  very  largely,  showing  them 
the  way  of  life  and  truth,  and  the  ground  of  election 
and  reprobation.  The  priest  said  he  was  but  a  child, 
and  could  not  dispute  with  me.  I  told  him  I  did  not 
come  to  dispute,  but  to  hold  forth  the  Word  of  life 
and  truth  unto  them,  that  they  might  all  know  the 
one  Seed,  to  which  the  promise  of  God  was  given, 
both  in  the  male  and  in  the  female.  Here  the  people 
were  very  loving,  and  would  have  had  me  come  again 
on  a  week-day,  and  preach  among  them;  but  I 
directed  them  to  their  teacher,  Christ  Jesus,  and  so 
passed  away. 

The  next  day  I  went  to  Cranswick,  to  Captain  Pur- 
sloe's,  who  accompanied  me  to  Justice  Hothara's. 
This  Justice  Hotham  was  a  tender  man,  one  that  had 
had  some  experience  of  God's  workings  in  his  heart. 
After  some  discourse  with  him  of  the  things  of  God, 
he  took  me  into  his  closet,  where,  sitting  with  me,  he 
told  me  he  had  known  that  principle*  these  ten  years, 
and  was  glad  that  the  Lord  did  now  publish  it  abroad 
to  the  people.  After  a  while  there  came  a  priest  to 
visit  him,  with  whom  also  I  had  some  discourse  con- 
cerning the  Truth.  But  his  mouth  was  quickly 
stopped,  for  he  was  nothing  but  a  notionist,  and  not 
in  possession  of  what  he  talked  of. 

While  I  was  here,  there  came  a  great  woman  of 

*  The  light  of  Christ  working  on  the  heart. 


136         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


Beverley  to  speak  to  Justice  Hotham  about  some 
business;  and  in  discourse  she  told  bim  that  the  last 
Sabbath-day  (as  she  called  it)  there  came  an  angel  or 
spirit  into  the  church  at  Beverley,  and  spoke  the 
wonderful  things  of  God,  to  the  astonishment  of  all 
that  were  there;  and  when  it  had  done,  it  passed 
away,  and  they  did  not  know  whence  it  came,  nor 
whither  it  went;  but  it  astonished  all, — priest,  pro- 
fessors, and  magistrates  of  the  town.  This  relation 
Justice  Hotham  gave  me  afterwards,  and  then  I  gave 
him  an  account  of  how  I  had  been  that  day  at  Bever- 
ley steeple-house,  and  had  declared  truth  to  the  priest 
and  people  there. 

I  went  to  another  steeple-house  about  three  miles 
off,  where  preached  a  great  high-priest,  called  a  doc- 
tor, one  of  them  whom  Justice  Hotham  would  have 
sent  for  to  speak  with  me.  I  went  into  the  steeple- 
house,  and  stayed  till  the  priest  had  done.  The  words 
which  he  took  for  his  text  were  these,  "  Ho,  every 
one  that  thirsteth,  come  ye  to  the  waters ;  and  he  that 
hath  no  money,  come  ye,  buy  and  eat,  yea  come,  buy 
wine  and  milk  without  money  and  without  price," 

Then  was  I  moved  of  the  Lord  God  to  say  imto 
him,  "  Come  down,  thou  deceiver;  dost  thou  bid  peo- 
ple come  freely,  and  take  of  the  water  of  life  freely, 
and  yet  thou  takest  three  hundred  pounds  a  year  of 
them  for  preaching  the  Scriptures  to  them.  Mayest 
thou  not  blush  for  shame  ?  Did  the  prophet  Isaiah, 
and  Christ  do  so,  who  spoke  the  words,  and  gave 
them  forth  freely  ?  Did  not  Christ  say  to  His  minis- 
ters, whom  He  sent  to  preach,  '  Freely  ye  have  re- 
ceived, freely  give  '  ?  " 


One  Man  May  Shake  the  Country.  137 

The  priest,  like  a  man  amazed,  hastened  away. 
After  he  had  left  his  flock,  I  had  as  much  time  as  I 
could  desire  to  speak  to  the  people;  and  I  directed 
them  from  the  darkness  to  the  Light,  and  to  the 
grace  of  God,  that  would  teach  them,  and  bring 
them  salvation;  to  the  Spirit  of  God  in  their  inward 
parts,  which  would  be  a  free  teacher  unto  them. 

Having  cleared  myself  amongst  the  people,  I 
returned  to  Justice  Hotham's  house  that  night. 
When  I  came  in  he  took  me  in  his  arms,  and  said  his 
house  was  my  house;  for  he  was  exceedingly  glad  of 
the  work  of  the  Lord,  and  that  His  power  was 
revealed. 

Thence  I  passed  on  through  the  cotmtry,  and 
came  at  night  to  an  inn  where  was  a  company  of  rude 
people.  I  bade  the  woman  of  the  house,  if  she  had 
any  meat,  to  bring  me  some ;  but  because  I  said  Thee 
and  Thou  to  her,  she  looked  strangely  on  me.  I  asked 
her  if  she  had  any  milk.  She  said,  No.  I  was  sensi- 
ble she  spake  falsely;  and,  being  willing  to  try  her 
further,  I  asked  her  if  she  had  any  cream?  She 
denied  that  she  had  any. 

There  stood  a  churn  in  the  room,  and  a  little  boy, 
playing  about,  put  his  hands  into  it  and  pulled  it 
down,  and  threw  all  the  cream  on  the  floor  before 
my  eyes.  Thus  was  the  woman  manifested  to  be  a 
liar.  She  was  amazed,  blessed  herself,  took  up  the 
child,  and  whipped  it  sorely:  but  I  reproved  her  for 
her  lying  and  deceit.  After  the  Lord  had  thus  dis- 
covered her  deceit  and  perverseness,  I  walked  out  of 
the  house,  and  went  away  till  I  came  to  a  stack  of 
hay,  and  lay  in  the  hay-stack  that  night,  in  rain  and 


138         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


snow,  it  being  but  three  days  before  the  time  called 
Christmas. 

The  next  day  I  came  into  York,  where  were  sev- 
eral very  tender  people.  Upon  the  First-day  follow- 
ing, I  was  commanded  of  the  Lord  to  go  and  speak 
to  priest  Bowles  and  his  hearers  in  their  great  cathe- 
dral. Accordingly  I  went.  When  the  priest  had 
done,  I  told  them  I  had  something  from  the  Lord 
God  to  speak  to  the  priest  and  people.  "  Then  say 
on  qniekly,"  said  a  professor,  for  there  was  frost  and 
snow,  and  it  was  very  cold  weather.  Then  I  told 
them  that  this  was  the  Word  of  the  Lord  God  unto 
them, — that  they  lived  in  words,  but  God  Almighty 
looked  for  fruits  amongst  them. 

As  soon  as  the  words  were  out  of  my  mouth,  they 
hurried  me  out,  and  threw  me  down  the  steps.  But 
I  got  up  again  without  hurt,  and  went  to  my  lodging, 
and  several  were  convinced  there.  For  that  which 
arose  from  the  weight  and  oppression  that  was  upon 
the  Spirit  of  God  in  me,  would  open  people,  strike 
them,  and  make  them  confess  that  the  groans  which 
broke  forth  through  me  did  reach  them,  for  my 
life  was  burthened  with  their  profession  without  pos- 
session, and  their  words  without  fruit. 

[After  being  thus  violently  tumbled  down  the  steps 
of  the  great  minster,  George  Fox  found  his  next  few 
days  crowded  with  hot  discussion.  Papists  and  Kanters 
and  Scotch  "  priests  "  made  him  stand  forth  for  the 
hope  that  was  in  him.  The  Eanters,  he  says,  "  had 
spent  their  portions,  and  not  living  in  that  which  they 
spake  of,  were  now  become  dry.  They  had  some  kind 
of  meetings,  but  they  took  tobacco  and  drank  ale  in 


One  Man  May  Shake  the  Country.  139 

their  meetings  and  were  grown  light  and  loose."  After 
the  narrative  of  an  attempt  to  push  him  over  the  cliffs 
the  account  continues.] 

Another  priest  sent  to  have  a  dispute  with  me, 
and  Friends  went  with  me  to  the  hoiise  where  he 
was;  but  when  he  understood  we  were  come,  he 
slipped  out  of  the  house,  and  hid  himself  under  an 
hedge.  The  people  Avcnt  and  found  him,  but  could 
not  get  him  to  come  to  us. 

Then  I  went  to  a  steeple-house  hai'd  by,  where  the 
priest  and  people  were  in  a  great  rage.  This  priest 
had  threatened  Friends  what  he  would  do;  but  when 
I  came  he  fled;  for  the  Lord's  power  came  over  him 
and  them.  Yea,  the  Lord's  everlasting  power  was 
over  the  world,  and  reached  to  the  hearts  of  peo- 
ple, and  made  both  priests  and  professors  tremble. 
It  shook  the  earthly  and  airy  spirit  in  which  they 
held  their  profession  of  religion  and  worship ;  so  that 
it  was  a  dreadful  thing  to  them  when  it  was  told 
them,  "  The  man  in  leathern  breeches  is  come."  ^ 
At  the  hearing  thereof  the  priests  in  many  places  got 
out  of  the  way,  they  were  so  struck  with  the  dread 


*  This  is  the  foundation  for  the  famous  passage  on 
George  Fox,  in  Carlyle's  "  Sartor  Eesartus,"  Book  IIL, 
Chap.  1.  There  is,  however,  no  foundation  for  Car- 
lyle's picture  of  Fox  cutting  and  stitching  his  own 
leather  suit.  Sewel  distinctly  says  that  these  leather 
breeches  had  no  connection  with  "  his  former  leather 
work."  Croese  says  that  his  entire  suit  was  leather. 
This  form  of  dress  was  not  very  unusual  at  the  time, 
*nd  was  probably  chosen  for  its  durability. 


140         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


of  the  eternal  power  of  God;  and  fear  surprised  the 
hypocrites. 

[At  Pickering  he  stood  in  "  the  steeple-house  yard  " 
and  told  the  people  what  his  mission  was,  with  as  clear 
a  claim  to  a  divine  commission  as  a  Hebrew  prophet 
would  have  made.] 

j  I  was  sent  of  the  Lord  God  of  heaven  and  earth  to 
preach  freely,  and  to  bring  people  off  from  these  out- 
ward temples  made  with  hands,  which  God  dwelleth 
not  in;  that  they  might  know  their  bodies  to  become 
the  temples  of  God  and  of  Christ ;  and  to  draw  people 
off  from  all  their  superstitious  ceremonies,  Jewish 
and  heathenish  customs,  traditions,  and  doctrines  of 
men ;  and  from  all  the  world's  hireling  teachers,  that 
take  tithes  and  great  wages,  preaching  for  hire,  and 
divining  for  money,  whom  God  and  Christ  never 
sent,  as  themselves  confess  when  they  say  that  they 
never  heard  God's  nor  Christ's  voice.  I  exhorted  the 
people  to  come  off  from  all  these  things,  directing 
them  to  the  Spirit  and  grace  of  God  in  themselves, 
and  to  the  Light  of  Jesus  in  their  own  hearts;  that 
they  might  come  to  know  Christ,  their  free  teacher, 
to  bring  them  salvation,  and  to  open  the  Scriptures 
to  them. 

Thus  the  Lord  gave  me  a  good  opportunity  to  open 
things  largely  unto  them.  All  was  quiet,  and  many 
were  convinced;  blessed  be  the  Lord. 

I  passed  to  another  town,  where  was  another  great 
meeting,  the  old  priest  being  with  me;  and  there 
came  professors  of  several  sorts  to  it.  I  sat  on  a  hay- 
stack, and  spoke  nothing  for  some  hours;  for  I  wa» 


One  Man  May  Shake  the  Country.  141 

to  famish  them  from  words.  The  professors  would 
ever  and  anon  be  speaking  to  the  old  priest,  and 
asking  him  when  I  would  begin,  and  when  I  would 
speak  ?  He  bade  them  wait ;  and  told  them  that  the 
people  waited  upon  Christ  a  long  while  before  He 
spoke. 

At  last  I  was  moved  of  the  Lord  to  speak;  and 
they  were  struck  by  the  Lord's  power.  The  Word 
of  life  reached  to  them,  and  there  was  a  general  con- 
vincement  amongst  them. 

Now  I  came  towards  Cranswick,  to  Captain  Pur- 
sloe's  and  Justice  Hotham's,  who  received  me  kindly, 
being  glad  that  the  Lord's  power  had  so  appeared; 
that  truth  was  spread,  and  so  many  had  received  it. 
Justice  Hotham  said  that  if  God  had  not  raised  up 
this  principle  of  Light  and  life  which  I  preached,  the 
nation  would  have  been  overrun  with  Ranterism,' 
and  all  the  justices  in  the  nation  could  not  have 
stopped  it  with  all  their  laws;  ''Because,"  said  he, 
"  they  would  have  said  as  we  said,  and  done  as  we 
commanded,  and  yet  have  kept  their  own  principle 
still.  But  this  principle  of  truth,"  said  he,  "  over- 
throws their  principle,  and  the  root  and  ground 
thereof  ";  and  therefore  he  was  glad  the  Lord  had 
raised  up  this  principle  of  life  and  truth. 

The  next  day  Friends  and  friendly  people  having 
left  me,  I  travelled  alone,  declaring  the  day  of  the 
Lord  amongst  people  in  the  towns  where  I  came,  and 
warning  them  to  repent.    I  came  towards  night  into 


'  This  remark  of  Justice  Hotham  is  an  observation 
of  considerable  historical  significance. 


142         George  Fox:  An  Autohiography. 


a  town  called  Patrington.  As  I  walked  along  tlie 
town,  I  warned  both  priest  and  people  (for  the  priest 
was  in  the  street)  to  repent  and  turn  to  the  Lord.  It 
grew  dark  before  I  came  to  the  end  of  the  town,  and 
a  multitude  of  people  gathered  about  me,  to  whom  I 
declared  the  Word  of  life. 

When  I  had  cleared  myself  I  went  to  an  inn,  and 
desired  them  to  let  me  have  a  lodging;  but  they 
would  not.  I  desired  a  little  meat  or  milk,  and  said 
I  would  pay  for  it;  but  they  refused.  So  I  walked 
out  of  the  town,  and  a  company  of  fellows  followed, 
and  asked  me,  "  What  news  ?  "  I  bade  them  repent, 
and  fear  the  Lord. 

After  I  was  gone  a  pretty  way,  I  came  to  another 
house,  and  desired  the  people  to  let  me  have  a  little 
meat,  drink,  and  lodging  for  my  money;  but  they 
denied  me.  I  went  to  another  house,  and  desired  the 
same ;  but  they  refused  me  also.  By  this  time  it  was 
grown  so  dark  that  I  could  not  see  the  highway;  but 
I  discerned  a  ditch,  and  got  a  little  water,  and 
refreshed  myself.  Then  I  got  over  the  ditch;  and, 
being  weary  with  travelling,  I  sat  down  amongst  the 
furze  bushes  till  it  was  day. 

About  break  of  day  I  got  up,  and  passed  on  over 
the  fields.  A  man  came  after  me  with  a  great  pike- 
staff and  went  along  with  me  to  a  to^vn;  and  he 
raised  the  town  upon  me,  with  the  constable  and 
chief  constable,  before  the  sun  was  up.  I  declared 
God's  everlasting  truth  amongst  them,  warning  them 
of  the  day  of  the  Lord,  that  was  coming  upon  all  sin 
and  wickedness;  and  exhorted  them  to  repent.  But 
they  seized  me,  and  had  me  back  to  Patrington,  about 


One  Man  May  Shake  the  Country.  143 

three  miles,  guarding  me  with  watch-bills,  pikes, 
staves,  and  halberds. 

When  I  was  come  to  Patrington,  all  the  town  was 
in  an  uproar,  and  the  priest  and  constables  were  con- 
sulting together;  so  I  had  another  opportimity  to 
declare  the  Word  of  life  amongst  them,  and  warn 
them  to  repent.  At  last  a  professor,  a  tender  man, 
called  me  into  his  house,  and  there  I  took  a  little 
milk  and  bread,  having  not  eaten  for  some  days 
before.  Then  they  guarded  me  about  nine  miles  to 
a  justice. 

When  I  was  come  near  his  house,  a  man  came  rid- 
ing after  us,  and  asked  me  whether  I  was  the  man 
that  was  apprehended.  I  asked  him  wherefore  he 
asked.  He  said,  "  For  no  hurt."  I  told  him  I  was:  so 
he  rode  away  to  the  justice  before  us.  The  men  that 
guarded  me  said  it  would  be  well  if  the  justice  were 
not  drunk  before  we  got  to  him;  for  he  used  to  get 
drunk  early. 

When  I  was  brought  in  before  him,  because  I  did 
not  put  off  my  hat,  and  because  I  said  Thou  to  him, 
he  asked  the  man  that  rode  thither  before  me 
whether  I  was  not  mazed  or  fond.*  The  man  told 
him,  No;  it  was  my  principle. 

I  warned  him  to  repent,  and  come  to  the  Light 
with  which  Christ  had  enlightened  him;  that  by  it 
he  might  see  all  his  evil  words  and  actions,  and  turn 
to  Christ  Jesus  whilst  he  had  time;  and  that  whilst 
he  had  time  he  should  prize  it.  "  Ay,  ay,"  said  he, 
"  the  Light  that  is  spoken  of  in  the  third  of  John." 
I  desired  he  would  mind  it,  and  obey  it. 

*  Foolish. 


144         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

As  I  admonished  him,  I  laid  my  hand  upon  him, 
and  he  was  brought  down  by  the  power  of  the  Lord ; 
and  all  the  watchmen  stood  amazed.  Then  he  took 
me  into  a  little  parlour  with  the  other  man,  and 
desired  to  see  what  I  had  in  my  pockets  of  letters  or 
intelligence.  I  plucked  out  my  linen,  and  showed 
him  I  had  no  letters.  He  said,  "  He  is  not  a  vagrant, 
by  his  linen     then  he  set  me  at  liberty. 

I  went  back  to  Patrington  with  the  man  that  had 
rode  before  me  to  the  justice:  for  he  lived  at  Patring- 
ton. When  I  came  there,  he  would  have  had  me  have 
a  meeting  at  the  Cross;  but  I  said  it  was  no  matter; 
his  house  would  serve.  He  desired  me  to  go  to  bed, 
or  lie  down  upon  a  bed;  which  he  did,  that  they 
might  say  they  had  seen  me  in  a  bed,  or  upon  a  bed; 
for  a  report  had  been  raised  that  I  would  not  lie  on 
any  bed,  because  at  that  time  I  lay  many  times  out 
of  doors.*  Now  when  the  First-day  of  the  week  was 
come,  I  went  to  the  steeple-house,  and  declared  the 
truth  to  the  priest  and  people;  and  the  people  did 
not  molest  me,  for  the  power  of  God  was  come  over 
them.  Presently  after  I  had  a  great  meeting  at  the 
man's  house  where  I  lay,  and  many  were  convinced 


*  Fox's  power  of  endurance  will  be  noticed  in  every 
part  of  this  autobiography.  He  sleeps  under  hedges, 
fences  or  haystacks.  He  goes  days  without  suitable 
food.  He  speaks  in  difficult  places  as  often  as  occasion 
presents,  and  goes  through  the  attacks  of  hostile  crowds 
with  an  endurance  which  is  astonishing.  This  iron  con- 
stitution carried  him  through  the  long  imprisonments 
which  thinned  the  ranks  of  his  co-laborers. 


One  Man  May  Shake  the  Country.  145 

of  the  Lord's  everlasting  truth,  who  stand  faithful 
witnesses  of  it  to  this  day.  They  were  exceedingly 
grieved  that  they  had  not  received  me,  nor  given  me 
lodging,  when  I  was  there  before. 

Thence  I  travelled  through  the  country,  even  to 
the  furthest  part  thereof,  warning  people,  in  towns 
and  villages,  to  repent,  and  directing  them  to  Christ 
Jesus,  their  teacher. 

On  the  First-day  of  the  week  I  came  to  one 
Colonel  Overton's  house,  and  had  a  great  meeting  of 
the  prime  of  the  people  of  that  country;  where  many 
things  were  opened  out  of  the  Scriptures  which  they 
had  never  heard  before.  Many  were  convinced,  and 
received  the  Word  of  life,  and  were  settled  in  the 
truth  of  God. 

Then  I  returned  to  Patrington  again,  and  visited 
those  Friends  that  were  convinced  there ;  by  whom  I 
tmderstood  that  a  tailor,  and  some  wild  blades  in  that 
town,  had  occasioned  my  being  carried  before  the  jus- 
tice. The  tailor  came  to  ask  my  forgiveness,  fearing  I 
would  complain  of  him.  The  constables  also  were 
afraid,  lest  I  should  trouble  them.  But  I  forgave 
them  all,  and  warned  them  to  turn  to  the  Lord,  and 
to  amend  their  Kves. 

Now  that  which  made  them  the  more  afraid  was 
this:  when  I  was  in  the  steeple-house  at  Oram,  not 
long  before,  there  came  a  professor,  who  gave  me  a 
push  on  the  breast  in  the  steeple-house,  and  bade  me 
get  out  of  the  church.  "  Alas,  poor  man !  "  said  I, 
"  dost  thou  call  the  steeple-house  the  Church  ?  The 
Church  is  the  people,  whom  God  hath  purchased  with 
His  blood,  and  not  the  house."    It  happened  that 


146         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

Justice  Hotham  came  to  hear  of  this  man's  abuse, 
sent  his  warrant  for  him,  and  bound  him  over  to  the 
sessions;  so  affected  was  he  with  the  Truth  and  so 
zealous  to  keep  the  peace.  And  indeed  this  Justice 
Hotham  had  asked  me  before  whether  any  people 
had  meddled  with  me,  or  abused  me;  but  I  was  not  at 
liberty  to  tell  him  anything  of  that  kind,  but  was  to 
forgive  all. 

The  next  First-day  I  went  to  Tickhill,  whither  the 
Friends  of  that  side  gathered  together,  and  a  mighty 
brokenness  by  the  power  of  God  there  was  amongst 
the  people.  I  went  out  of  the  meeting,  being  moved 
of  God  to  go  to  the  steeple-house.  When  I  came 
there,  I  found  the  priest  and  most  of  the  chief  of  the 
parish  together  in  the  chancel. 

I  went  up  to  them,  and  began  to  speak;  but  they 
immediately  fell  upon  me;  the  clerk  up  with  his 
Bible,  as  I  was  speaking,  and  struck  me  on  the  face 
with  it,  so  that  my  face  gushed  out  with  blood;  and 
I  bled  exceedingly  in  the  steeple-house.  The  people 
cried,  "  Let  us  have  him  out  of  the  church."  When 
they  had  got  me  out,  they  beat  me  exceedingly,  threw 
me  down,  and  turned  me  over  a  hedge.  They  after- 
wards dragged  me  through  a  house  into  the  street, 
stoning  and  beating  me  as  they  dragged  me  along;  so 
that  I  was  all  over  besmeared  with  blood  and  dirt. 
They  got  my  hat  from  me,  which  I  never  had  again. 
Yet  when  I  was  got  upon  my  legs,  I  declared  the 
Word  of  life,  showed  them  the  fruits  of  their 
teacher,  and  how  they  dishonored  Christianity. 

After  awhile  I  got  into  the  meeting  again  amongst 
Friends,  and  the  priest  and  people  coming  by  the 


One  Man  May  Shake  Ihe  Country.  147 

house,  I  went  with.  Friends  into  the  yard,  and  there 
spoke  to  the  priest  and  people.  The  priest  scoffed  at 
us,  and  called  us  Quakers.  But  the  Lord's  power  was 
so  over  them,  and  the  Word  of  life  was  declared  in 
such  authority  and  dread  to  them,  that  the  priest  fell 
a-trembling  himself;  and  one  of  the  people  said, 
"  Look  how  the  priest  trembles  and  shakes;  he  is 
turned  a  Quaker  also." 

When  the  meeting  was  over.  Friends  departed; 
and  I  went  without  my  hat  to  Balby,  about  seven  or 
eight  miles.  Friends  were  much  abused  that  day  by 
the  priest  and  his  people:  insomuch  that  some  mod- 
erate justices  hearing  of  it,  two  or  three  of  them 
came  and  sat  at  the  town  to  examine  the  business. 
He  that  had  shed  my  blood  was  afraid  of  having  his 
hand  cut  off  for  striking  me  in  the  church,  as  they 
called  it;  but  I  forgave  him,  and  would  not  appear 
against  him. 

Thence  I  went  to  Wakefield;  and  on  the  First-day 
after,  I  went  to  a  steeple-house  where  James  JTay- 
ler  *  had  been  a  member  of  an  Independent  church ; 
but  upon  his  receiving  truth,  he  was  excommuni- 
cated. When  I  came  in,  and  the  priest  had  done,  the 
people  called  upon  me  to  come  up  to  the  priest,  which 
I  did;  but  when  I  began  to  declare  the  Word  of  life 
to  them,  and  to  lay  open  the  deceit  of  the  priest,  they 


^  This  James  Nayler,  who  left  his  Independent 
church  to  become  a  Quaker  had  a  future  history  of 
pathetic  interest.  He  was  a  powerful  minister,  and  his 
very  success  led  to  his  downfall,  which  will  be  recorded 
in  the  proper  place  later  on. 


148         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


rushed  upon  me  suddenly,  thrust  me  out  at  the  other 
door,  punching  and  beating  me,  and  cried,  "  Let  us 
have  him  to  the  stocks."  But  the  Lord's  power  re- 
strained them,  that  they  were  not  suffered  to  put 
me  in. 

So  I  passed  away  to  the  meeting,  where  were  a 
great  many  professors  and  friendly  people  gathered, 
and  a  great  convincement  there  was  that  day;  for  the 
people  were  mightily  satisfied  that  they  were  directed 
to  the  Lord's  teaching  in  themselves.  Here  we  got 
some  lodging;  for  four  of  us  had  lain  under  a  hedge 
the  night  before,  there  being  then  few  Friends  in 
that  place. 

The  priest  of  that  church,  of  which  James  I^ay- 
ler  had  been  a  member,  whose  name  was  Marshall, 
raised  many  wicked  slanders  about  me,  as  that  I  car- 
ried bottles  with  me,  and  made  people  drink  of  them, 
which  made  them  follow  me;  and  that  I  rode  upon  a 
great  black  horse,  and  was  seen  in  one  country  upon 
it  in  one  hour,  and  at  the  same  hour  in  another  cotm- 
try  threescore  miles  off;  and  that  I  would  give  a  fel- 
low money  to  follow  me,  when  I  was  on  my  black 
horse.  With  these  lies  he  fed  his  people,  to  make 
them  think  evil  of  the  truth  which  I  had  declared 
amongst  them.  But  by  these  lies  he  preached  many 
of  his  hearers  away  from  him;  for  I  was  then  trav- 
elling on  foot,  and  had  no  horse  at  that  time;  which 
the  people  generally  knew. 

As  we  travelled  through  the  country,  preaching 
repentance  to  the  people,  we  came  into  a  market- 
town,  where  a  lecture  was  held  that  day.  I  went  into 
the  steeple-house,  where  many  priests,  professors  and 


One  Man  May  Shake  the  Country.  149 

people  were.  The  priest  that  preached  took  for  his 
text  those  words  of  Jeremiah  5:  31,  "  My  people  love 
to  have  it  so  ":  leaving  out  the  foregoing  words,  vi^. : 
"  The  prophets  prophesy  falsely,  and  the  priests  bear 
rule  by  their  means."  I  showed  the  people  his  deceit ; 
and  directed  them  to  Christ,  the  true  teacher  within ; 
declaring  that  God  was  come  to  teach  His  people 
himself,  and  to  bring  them  off  from  all  the  world's 
teachers  and  hirelings;  that  they  might  come  to 
receive  freely  from  Ilim.  Then,  warning  them  of 
the  day  of  the  Lord  that  was  coming  upon  all  flesh, 
I  passed  thence  without  much  opposition. 

At  night  Ave  came  to  a  country  place,  where  there 
was  no  public  house  near.  The  people  desired  us  to 
stay  all  night;  which  we  did,  and  had  good  service 
for  the  Lord,  declaring  His  truth  amongst  them. 

The  Lord  had  said  imto  me  that  if  but  one  man  or 
woman  were  raised  by  His  power  to  stand  and  live 
in  the  same  Spirit  that  the  prophets  and  apostles 
were  in  who  gave  forth  the  Scriptures,  that  man  or 
woman  should  shake  all  the  country  in  their  profes- 
sion* for  ten  miles  round.  For  people  had  the  Scrip- 
tures, but  were  not  in  the  same  Light,  power,  and 
Spirit  which  those  were  in  who  gave  forth  the  Scrip- 
tures; so  they  neither  knew  God,  Christ,  nor  the 
Scriptures  aright;  nor  had  they  unity  one  with 
another,  being  out  of  the  power  and  Spirit  of  God. 
Therefore  we  warned  all,  wherever  we  met  them,  of 
the  day  of  the  Lord  that  was  coming  upon  them. 

•  "  All  the  country  in  their  profession  "  means  "  all  the  people 
thronghont  the  country  who  are  mere  nominal  Christians." 


CHAPTEE  VI. 


^  i^eto  !Era  Begins 

1652. 

As  we  travelled  we  came  near  a  very  great  hill, 
called  Pendle  Hill,  and  I  was  moved  of  the  Lord  to 
go  up  to  the  top  of  it;  which  I  did  with  difficulty,  it 
was  so  very  steep  and  high.  When  I  was  come  to 
the  top,  I  saw  the  sea  bordering  upon  Lancashire. 
From  the  top  of  this  hill  the  Lord  let  me  see  in  what 
places  he  had  a  great  people  to  be  gathered.  As  I 
went  down,  I  found  a  spring  of  water  in  the  side  of 
the  hill,  with  which  I  refreshed  myself,  having  eaten 
or  drunk  but  little  for  several  days  before.^ 

At  night  we  came  to  an  inn,  and  declared  truth  to 
the  man  of  the  house,  and  wrote  a  paper  to  the  priests 
and  professors,  declaring  the  day  of  the  Lord,  and 
that  Christ  was  come  to  teach  people  Himself,  by  His 
power  and  Spirit  in  their  hearts,  and  to  bring  people 
off  from  all  the  world's  ways  and  teachers,  to  His 
own  free  teaching,  who  had  bought  them,  and  was 
the  Saviour  of  all  them  that  believed  in  Him.  The 
man  of  the  house  spread  the  paper  abroad,  and  was 
mightily  affected  with  the  truth.  Here  the  Lord 
opened  unto  me,  and  let  me  see  a  great  people  in 
white  raiment  by  a  river  side,  coming  to  the  Lord; 


^  This  spring  is  still  called  "  George  Fox's  well." 


A  New  Era  Begins. 


151 


and  the  place  that  I  saw  them  in  was  about  Wensley- 
dale  and  Sedbergh.^ 

The  next  day  we  travelled  on,  and  at  night  got  a 
little  fern  or  bracken  to  put  under  us,  and  lay  upon 
a  common.  Next  morning  we  reached  a  town,  where 
Kichard  Farnsworth  ^  parted  from  me;  and  then  I 
travelled  alone  again.  I  came  up  Wensleydale,  and 
at  the  market-town  in  that  Dale,  there  was  a  lecture 
on  the  market-day.  I  went  into  the  steeple-house; 
and  after  the  priest  had  done  I  proclaimed  the  day 
of  the  Lord  to  the  priest  and  people,  warning  them 
to  turn  from  darkness  to  the  Light,  and  from  the 
power  of  Satan  unto  God,  that  they  might  come  to 
know  God  and  Christ  aright,  and  to  receive  His 
teaching,  who  teachetli  freely.  Largely  and  freely 
did  I  declare  the  Word  of  life  unto  them,  and  had 
not  much  persecution  there. 

Afterwards  I  passed  up  the  Dales,  warning  people 


^  No  part  of  Fox's  life  is  more  remarkable  than  these 
few  months  of  service  that  follow  in  Westmoreland — 
"  in  and  about  Wensleydale  and  Sedbergh."  Here  he 
gathers  about  himself  a  band  of  preachers  only  slightly 
less  gifted  than  himself.  He  wins  the  support  of  the 
Fells  of  Swarthmore  Hall,  which  becomes  henceforth 
a  sort  of  headquarters  to  the  movement,  and  he  gains 
the  incalculable  assistance  of  Margaret  Fell, — for 
many  years  a  wise  and  faithful  friend,  and  finally  his 
wife. 

Richard  Farnsworth  was  "  convinced  "  at  Balby  in 
1651,  and  became  one  of  George  Fox's  most  valuable 
helpers. 


152         Oeorge  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


to  fear  God,  and  preaching  the  everlasting  gospel  to 
them.  In  mj  way  I  came  to  a  great  house,  where 
was  a  schoolmaster;  and  they  got  me  into  the  house. 
I  asked  them  questions  about  their  religion  and  wor- 
ship; and  afterwards  I  declared  the  truth  to  them. 
They  had  me  into  a  parlour,  and  locked  me  in,  pre- 
tending that  I  was  a  yoimg  man  that  was  mad,  and 
had  run  away  from  my  relations;  and  that  they 
would  keep  me  till  they  could  send  to  them.  But  I 
soon  convinced  them  of  their  mistake,  and  they  let 
me  forth,  and  would  have  had  me  to  stay;  but  I  was 
not  to  stay  there. 

Then  having  exhorted  them  to  repentance,  and 
directed  them  to  the  Light  of  Christ  Jesus,  that 
through  it  they  might  come  unto  Him  and  be  saved, 
I  passed  from  them,  and  came  in  the  night  to  a  little 
ale-house  on  a  common,  where  there  was  a  company 
of  rude  fellows  drinking.  Because  I  would  not  drink 
with  them,  they  struck  me  with  their  clubs;  but  I 
reproved  them,  and  brought  them  to  be  somewhat 
cooler;  and  then  I  walked  out  of  the  house  upon  the 
common  in  the  night. 

After  some  time  one  of  these  drunken  fellows 
came  out,  and  would  have  come  close  up  to  me,  pre- 
tending to  whisper  to  me;  but  I  perceived  he  had  a 
knife;  and  therefore  I  kept  off  him,  and  bade  liim 
repent,  and  fear  God.  So  the  Lord  by  His  power 
preserved  me  from  this  wicked  man;  and  he  went 
into  the  house  again.  The  next  morning  I  went  on 
through  other  Dales,  warning  and  exhorting  people 
everywhere  as  I  passed,  to  repent  and  turn  to  the 
Lord:  and  several  were  convinced.    At  one  house 


A  New  Era  Begins. 


153 


that  I  came  to,  the  man  of  the  house  (whom  I  after- 
wards found  to  bo  a  kinsman  of  John  Blakelin's") 
would  have  given  me  money,  but  I  would  not  receive 
it. 

The  next  day  I  went  to  a  meeting  at  Justice  Ben- 
son's, where  I  met  a  people  that  were  separated  from 
the  public  worship.  This  was  the  place  I  had  seen, 
where  a  people  came  forth  in  white  raiment.  A  large 
meeting  it  was,  and  the  people  were  generally  con- 
vinced; and  they  continue  still  a  large  meeting  of 
Friends  near  Sedbergh;  which  was  then  first  gath- 
ered through  my  ministry  in  the  name  of  Jesus. 

In  the  same  week  there  was  a  great  fair,  at  which 
servants  used  to  be  hired;  and  I  declared  the  day  of 
the  Lord  through  the  fair.  After  I  had  done  so,  I 
went  into  the  steeple-house  yard,  and  many  of  the 
people  of  the  fair  came  thither  to  me,  and  abundance 
of  priests  and  professors.  There  I  declared  the  ever- 
lasting truth  of  the  Lord  and  the  Word  of  life  for 
several  hours,  showing  that  the  Lord  was  come  to 
teach  His  people  Himself,  and  to  bring  them  off 
from  all  the  world's  ways  and  teachers,  to  Christ,  the 
true  teacher,  and  the  true  way  to  God.  I  laid  open 
their  teachers,  shownng  that  they  were  like  them  that 
were  of  old  condemned  by  the  prophets,  and  by 
Christ,  and  by  the  apostles.  I  exhorted  the  people  to 
come  off  from  the  temples  made  with  hands;  and 
wait  to  receive  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord,  that  they 
might  know  themselves  to  bo  the  temples  of  God. 

Not  one  of  the  priests  had  power  to  open  his 
mouth  against  what  I  declared:  but  at  last  a  captain 
said,  "  Why  will  you  not  go  into  the  church  ?  this  is 


154         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

not  a  fit  place  to  preach  in."  I  told  him  I  denied 
their  church.  Then  stood  up  Francis  Howgill,  who 
was  preacher  to  a  congregation.  He  had  not  seen  me 
before;  yet  he  undertook  to  answer  that  captain;  and 
he  soon  put  him  to  silence.  Then  said  Francis  How- 
gill  of  me,  "  This  man  speaks  with  authority,  and  not 
as  the  scribes." 

After  this,  I  opened  to  the  people  that  that  ground 
and  house  were  no  holier  than  another  place;  and 
that  the  house  is  not  the  Church,  but  the  people,  of 
whom  Christ  is  the  head.  After  awhile  the  priests 
came  up  to  me,  and  I  warned  them  to  repent.  One 
of  them  said  I  was  mad;  so  they  turned  away.  But 
many  were  convinced  there  that  day,  who  were  glad 
to  hear  the  truth  declared,  and  received  it  with  joy. 
Amongst  these  was  Captain  Ward,  who  received  the 
truth  in  the  love  of  it,  and  lived  and  died  in  it. 

The  next  First-day  I  came  to  Firbank  chapel  in 
Westmoreland,  where  Francis  Howgill  and  John 
Audland  *  had  been  preaching  in  the  morning.  The 
chapel  was  full  of  people,  so  that  many  could  not  get 
in.  Francis  said  he  thought  I  looked  into  the  chapel, 
and  his  spirit  was  ready  to  fail,  the  Lord's  power  did 
so  surprise  him:  but  I  did  not  look  in.  They  made 
haste,  and  had  quickly  done,  and  they  and  some  of 
the  people  went  to  dinner;  but  abimdance  stayed  till 
they  came  again.  John  Blakelin  and  others  came  to 
me,  and  desired  me  not  to  reprove  them  publicly;  for 


*  Howgill  and  Audland  became  two  of  the  little 
band  of  powerful  ministers  who  gave  their  lives  to  the 
proclamation  of  the  truth  as  Fox  interpreted  it. 


A  New  Era  Begins. 


155 


they  were  not  parish-teachers,  but  pretty  tender  men. 
I  could  not  tell  them  whether  I  should  or  no,  though 
I  had  not  at  that  time  any  drawings  to  declare  pub- 
licly against  them;  but  I  said  they  must  leave  me  to 
the  Lord's  movings. 

While  others  were  gone  to  dinner,  I  went  to  a 
brook,  got  a  little  water,  and  then  came  and  sat  down 
on  the  top  of  a  rock  hard  by  the  chapel.  In  the  after- 
noon the  people  gathered  about  me,  with  several  of 
their  preachers.  It  was  judged  there  were  above  a 
thousand  people;  to  whom  I  declared  God's  everlast- 
ing truth  and  Word  of  life  freely  and  largely  for 
about  the  space  of  three  hours.  I  directed  all  to  the 
Spirit  of  God  in  themselves;  that  they  might  be 
turned  from  darkness  to  Light,  and  believe  in  it;  that 
they  might  become  the  children  of  it,  and  might  be 
turned  from  the  power  of  Satan  unto  God;  and  by 
the  Spirit  of  truth  might  be  led  into  all  truth,  and 
sensibly  understand  the  words  of  the  prophets,  of 
Christ,  and  of  the  apostles;  and  might  all  come  to 
know  Christ  to  be  their  teacher  to  instruct  them, 
their  counsellor  to  direct  them,  their  shepherd  to 
feed  them,  their  bishop  to  oversee  them,  and  their 
prophet  to  open  divine  mysteries  to  them;  and  might 
know  their  bodies  to  be  prepared,  sanctified,  and 
made  fit  temples  for  God  and  Christ  to  dwell  in.  In 
the  openings  of  heavenly  life  I  explained  unto  them 
the  prophets,  and  the  figures  and  shadows,  and 
directed  them  to  Christ,  the  substance.  Then  I 
opened  the  parables  and  sayings  of  Christ,  and  things 
that  had  been  long  hid. 

Now  there  were  many  old  people  who  went  into 


156         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

the  chapel  and  looked  out  at  the  windows,  thinking 
it  a  strange  thing  to  see  a  man  preach  on  a  hill,  and 
not  in  their  church,  as  they  called  it;  whereupon  I 
was  moved  to  open  to  the  people  that  the  steeple- 
house,  and  the  ground  whereon  it  stood  were  no  more 
holy  than  that  mountain;  and  that  those  temples, 
which  they  called  the  dreadful  houses  of  God  were 
not  set  up  by  the  command  of  God  and  of  Christ; 
nor  their  priests  called,  as  Aaron's  priesthood  was; 
nor  their  tithes  appointed  by  God,  as  those  amongst 
the  Jews  were ;  but  that  Christ  was  come,  who  ended 
both  the  temple  and  its  worship,  and  the  priests  and 
their  tithes;  and  that  all  should  now  hearken  unto 
Him;  for  He  said,  "  Learn  of  me  ";  and  God  said  of 
Him,  "  This  is  my  beloved  Son,  in  whom  I  am  well 
pleased;  hear  ye  Him." 

I  declared  unto  them  that  the  Lord  God  had  sent 
me  to  preach  the  everlasting  gospel  and  Word  of  life 
amongst  them,  and  to  bring  them  off  from  all  these 
temples,  tithes,  priests,  and  rudiments  of  the  world, 
which  had  been  instituted  since  the  apostles'  days, 
and  had  been  set  up  by  such  as  had  erred  from  the 
Spirit  and  power  the  apostles  were  in.  Very  largely 
was  I  opened  at  this  meeting,  and  the  Lord's  convinc- 
ing power  accompanied  my  ministry,  and  reached  the 
hearts  of  the  people,  whereby  many  were  convinced; 
and  all  the  teachers  of  that  congregation  (who  were 
many)  were  convinced  of  God's  everlasting  truth. 

At  Kendal  a  meeting  was  held  in  the  Town-hall. 
Several  were  convinced  and  many  were  loving.  One 
whose  name  was  Cock  met  me  in  the  street  and  would 
have  given  me  a  roll  of  tobacco,  for  people  were  then 


A  New  Era  Begins. 


157 


much  given  to  smoking.  I  accepted  his  love,  but  did 
not  receive  his  tobacco. 

Thence  I  went  to  Underbarrow,  and  several  people 
going  along  with  me,  great  reasonings  I  had  with 
them,  especially  with  Edward  Burrough.' 

At  night  the  priest  and  many  professors  came  to 
the  house;  and  a  great  deal  of  disputing  I  had  with 
them.  Supper  being  provided  for  the  priest  and  the 
rest  of  the  company,  I  had  not  freedom  to  eat  with 
them;  but  told  them  that  if  they  would  appoint  a 
meeting  for  the  next  day  at  the  steeple-house,  and 
acquaint  the  people  with  it,  I  might  meet  them. 
They  had  a  great  deal  of  reasoning  about  it;  some 
being  for,  and  some  against  it. 

In  the  morning,  after  I  had  spoken  to  them  again 
concerning  the  meeting,  as  I  walked  upon  a  bank  bj 
the  house,  there  came  several  poor  travellers,  asking 
relief,  who  I  saw  were  in  necessity;  and  they  gave 
them  nothing,  but  said  they  were  cheats.  It  grieved 
me  to  see  such  hard-heartedness  amongst  professors; 
whereupon,  when  they  were  gone  in  to  their  break- 
fast, I  ran  after  the  poor  people  about  a  quarter  of  a 
mile,  and  gave  them  some  money. 

^  Edward  Burrough  has  been  called  the  Whitefield 
of  Quakerism.  He  possessed  a  trained  mind  and 
unusual  original  power.  He  was  a  vigorous  writer,  and 
his  ministry  was  remarkably  effective.  "  Son  of  thun- 
der and  consolation,"  he  was  named.  He  was  one  of 
the  early  martyrs  to  the  truth,  dying  in  a  London  prison 
in  1662.  Just  before  his  death  he  said:  "  Now  ray  soul 
and  spirit  is  entered  into  its  own  being  with  God,  and 
this  form  of  person  must  return  whence  it  was  token." 


158         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


Meanwhile  some  that  were  in  the  house,  coming 
out,  and  seeing  me  a  quarter  of  a  mile  oif,  said  I 
could  not  have  gone  so  far  in  such  an  instant,  if  I 
had  not  had  wings.  Hereupon  the  meeting  was  like 
to  have  been  put  by;  for  they  were  filled  with  such 
strange  thoughts  concerning  me  that  many  of  them 
were  against  having  a  meeting  with  me,* 

I  told  them  that  I  had  run  after  those  poor  people 
to  give  them  some  money ;  being  grieved  at  the  hard- 
heartedness  of  those  who  gave  them  nothing. 

Then  came  Miles  and  Stephen  Hubbersty,  who, 
being  more  simple-hearted  men,  would  have  the 
meeting  held.  So  to  the  chapel  I  went,  and  the 
priest  came, 

A  great  meeting  there  was,  and  the  way  of  life  and 
salvation  was  opened ;  and  after  awhile  the  priest  fled 
away.  Many  of  Crook  and  Underbarrow  were  con- 
vinced that  day,  received  the  Word  of  life,  and  stood 
fast  in  it  under  the  teaching  of  Christ  Jesus, 

After  I  had  declared  the  truth  to  them  for  some 
hours,  and  the  meeting  was  ended,  the  chief  consta- 
ble and  some  other  professors  fell  to  reasoning  with 
me  in  the  chapel  yard.  Whereupon  I  took  a  Bible 
and  opened  the  Scriptures,  and  dealt  tenderly  with 
them,  as  one  would  do  with  a  child.  They  that  were 
in  the  Light  of  Christ  and  Spirit  of  God  knew  when 
I  spake  Scripture,  though  I  did  not  mention  chapter 
and  verse,  after  the  priest's  form,  to  them. 

Then  I  went  to  an  ale-house,  to  which  many  re- 
sorted betwixt  the  time  of  their  morning  and  after- 

*  The  superstitions  everywhere  existent  among  the  people  should 
be  noted. 


A  New  Era  Begins. 


159 


noon  preaching,  and  had  a  great  deal  of  reasoning 
with  the  people,  declaring  to  them  that  God  was 
come  to  teach  His  people,  and  to  bring  them  off  from 
the  false  teachers,  such  as  the  prophets,  Christ,  and 
the  apostles  cried  against.  Many  received  the  Word 
of  life  at  that  time,  and  abode  in  it. 

Thence  I  went  to  Ulverstone,  and  so  to  Swarth- 
more  *  to  Judge  Fell's;  whither  came  up  one  Lam- 
pitt,  a  priest,  who  was  a  high  notionist.  With  him 
I  had  much  reasoning;  for  he  talked  of  high  notions 
and  perfection,  and  thereby  deceived  the  people.  He 
would  have  owned  me,  but  I  could  not  own  nor  join 
with  him,  he  was  so  full  of  filth.®  He  said  he  was 
above  John;  and  made  as  though  he  knew  all  things. 
But  I  told  him  that  death  reigned  from  Adam  to 
Moses;  that  he  was  imder  death,  and  knew  not 
Moses,  for  Moses  saw  the  paradise  of  God;  but  he 
knew  neither  Moses  nor  the  prophets  nor  John ;  for 
that  crooked  and  rough  nature  stood  in  him,  and  the 
mountain  of  sin  and  corruption;  and  the  way  was  not 
prepared  in  him  for  the  Lord. 

He  confessed  he  had  been  under  a  cross  in  things; 
but  now  he  could  sing  psalms,  and  do  anything.  I 
told  him  that  now  he  could  see  a  thief,  and  join  hand 
in  hand  with  him ;  but  he  could  not  preach  Moses,  nor 

*  In  the  Furness  district. 


"  Of  no  other  minister  has  Fox  spoken  so  harshly  as 
of  this  man  Lampitt.  There  is  every  reason  for  believ- 
ing that  the  picture  which  he  gives  of  Lampitt  is  cor- 
rect, though  in  Calamy's  "  Ejected  Ministers "  he  is 
spoken  of  as  "  a  warm  and  lively  preacher." 


160         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


the  prophets,  nor  John,  nor  Christ,  except  he  were  in 
the  same  Spirit  that  they  were  in. 

Margaret  Fell  had  been  absent  in  the  day-time; 
and  at  night  her  children  told  her  that  priest  Lampitt 
and  I  had  disagreed,  which  somewhat  troubled  her, 
because  she  was  in  profession  with  him;  but  he  hid 
his  dirty  actions  from  them.  At  night  we  had  much 
reasoning,  and  I  declared  the  truth  to  her  and  her 
family.  The  next  day  Lampitt  came  again,  and  I 
had  much  discourse  with  liim  before  Margaret  Fell, 
who  then  clearly  discerned  the  priest.  A  convince- 
ment  of  the  Lord's  truth  came  upon  her  and  her 
family. 

Soon  after  a  day  was  to  be  observed  for  a  humilia- 
tion, and  Margaret  Fell  asked  me  to  go  with  her  to 
the  steeple-house  at  Ulverstone,  for  she  was  not 
wholly  come  off  from  them.  I  replied,  "  I  must  do 
as  I  am  ordered  by  the  Lord."  So  I  left  her,  and 
walked  into  the  fields;  and  the  Word  of  the  Lord 
came  to  me,  saying,  "  Go  to  the  steeple-house  after 
them." 

When  I  came,  Lampitt  was  singing  with  his  peo- 
ple; but  his  spirit  was  so  foul,  and  the  matter  they 
sung  so  unsuitable  to  their  states,  that  after  they  had 
done  singing,  I  was  moved  of  the  Lord  to  speak  to 
him  and  the  people.  The  word  of  the  Lord  to  them 
was,  "  He  is  not  a  Jew  that  is  one  outwardly,  but  he 
is  a  Jew  that  is  one  inwardly,  whose  praise  is  not  of 
man,  but  of  God." 

As  the  Lord  opened  further,  I  showed  them  that 
God  was  come  to  teach  His  people  by  His  Spirit,  and 
to  bring  them  off  from  all  their  old  ways,  religions, 


A  New  Era  Begins. 


161 


churches,  and  worships;  for  all  their  religions,  wor- 
ships, and  ways  were  but  talking  with  other  men's 
words;  but  they  were  out  of  the  life  and  Spirit  which 
they  were  in  who  gave  them  forth. 

Then  cried  out  one,  called  Justice  Sawrey,  "  Take 
him  away  ";  but  Judge  Fell's  wife  said  to  the  officers, 
Let  him  alone;  why  may  not  he  speak  as  well  as 
any  other  ? "  ^  Lampitt  also,  the  priest,  in  deceit 
said,  "  Let  him  speak."  So  at  length,  when  I  had 
declared  some  time,  Justice  Sawrey  caused  the  con- 
stable to  put  me  out ;  and  then  I  spoke  to  the  people 
in  the  graveyard. 

From  thence  I  went  into  the  island  of  Walney; 
and  after  the  priest  had  done  I  spoke  to  him,  but  he 
got  away.  Then  I  declared  the  truth  to  the  people, 
but  they  were  something  rude.  I  went  to  speak  wdth 
the  priest  at  his  house,  but  he  would  not  be  seen. 
The  people  said  he  went  to  hide  himself  in  the  hay- 
mow; and  they  looked  for  him  there,  but  could  not 
find  him.  Then  they  said  he  was  gone  to  hide  him- 
self in  the  standing  com,  but  they  could  not  find  him 
there  either.    I  went  to  James  Lancaster's,  in  the 

'  During  the  Commonwealth  period  it  was  no  viola- 
tion of  law  or  custom  for  a  person  in  the  congregation 
to  stand  up  and  speak  or  object  after  the  minister  had 
finished  his  sermon.  In  most  cases,  where  Fox  spoke  in 
the  churches,  he  was  exercising  a  right  which  was  well- 
established.  Occasionally  he  interrupted,  which  was 
contrary  to  good  order,  but  he  justified  it  by  an  appeal 
to  the  call  of  the  Spirit,  which  he  could  not  resist.  (See 
page  110.)  Justices  of  the  Peace  had  authority  to  for- 
bid any  person  to  speak. 


162         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


island,  who  was  convinced,  and  from  thence  returned 
to  Swarthmore,  where  the  Lord's  power  seized  upon 
Margaret  Fell,  her  daughter  Sarah,  and  several 
others. 

Then  I  went  to  Baycliff,  where  Leonard  Fell  was 
convinced,  and  became  a  minister  of  the  everlasting 
gospel.  Several  others  were  convinced  there,  and 
came  into  obedience  to  the  truth.  Here  the  people 
said  they  could  not  dispute;  and  would  fain  have  put 
some  other  to  hold  talk  with  me;  but  I  bade  them 
fear  the  Lord,  and  not  in  a  light  way  hold  a  talk  of 
the  Lord's  words,  but  put  the  things  in  practice.® 

I  directed  them  to  the  Divine  Light  of  Christ,  and  ' 
His  Spirit  in  their  hearts,  which  would  let  them  see 
all  the  evil  thoughts,  words,  and  actions  that  they 
had  thought,  spoken,  and  acted ;  by  which  Light  they 
might  see  their  sin,  and  also  their  Saviour  Christ 
Jesus  to  save  them  from  their  sins.  This  I  told  them 
was  their  first  step  to  peace,  even  to  stand  still  in  the 
Light  that  showed  them  their  sins  and  transgres- 
sions; by  which  they  might  come  to  see  they  were  in 
the  fall  of  old  Adam,  in  darkness  and  death,  stran- 
gers to  the  covenant  of  promise,  and  vsdthout  God  in 
the  world ;  and  by  the  same  Light  they  might  see 
Christ  that  died  for  them  to  be  their  Redeemer  and 
Saviour,  and  their  way  to  God. 

Soon  after,  Judge  Fell  being  come  home,  Margaret 
Fell,  his  wife,  sent  to  me,  desiring  me  to  return 


*  Most  wholesome  words  these,  for  that  period  of 
endless  dispute,  when  religion  too  often  meant  the 
acceptance  of  some  verbal  statement. 


A  New  Era  Begins. 


163 


thither;  and  feeling  freedom  from  the  Lord 
so  to  do,  I  went  back  to  Swarthmore.  I 
found  the  priests  and  professors,  and  that  envi- 
ous Justice  Sawrey,  had  much  incensed  Judge 
Fell  and  Captain  Sands  against  the  truth  by 
their  Kes;  but  when  I  came  to  speak  with  him 
I  answered  all  his  objections,  and  so  thoroughly 
satisfied  him  by  the  Scriptures  that  he  was  convinced 
in  his  judgment.  He  asked  me  if  I  was  that  George 
Fox  of  whom  Justice  Robinson  spoke  so  much  in 
commendation  amongst  many  of  the  Parliament 
men  ?  I  told  him  I  had  been  with  Justice  Robinson, 
and  with  Justice  Hotham  in  Yorkshire,  who  were 
very  civil  and  loving  to  me;  and  that  they  were  con- 
vinced in  their  judgment  by  the  Spirit  of  God  that 
the  principle  to  which  I  bore  testimony  was  the 
truth;  and  they  saw  over  and  beyond  the  priests  of 
the  nation,  so  that  they,  and  many  others,  were  now 
come  to  be  wiser  than  their  teachers. 

After  we  had  discoursed  some  time  together, 
Judge  Fell  himself  was  satisfied  also,  and  came  to  see, 
by  the  openings  of  the  Spirit  of  God  in  his  heart, 
over  all  the  priests  and  teachers  of  the  world,  and  did 
not  go  to  hear  them  for  some  years  before  he  died; 
for  he  knew  it  was  the  truth  that  I  declared,  and  that 
Christ  was  the  teacher  of  His  people,  and  their 
Saviour.  He  sometimes  wished  that  I  were  a  while 
with  Judge  Bradshaw  to  discourse  with  him. 

There  came  to  Judge  Fell's  Captain  Sands  before- 
mentioned,  endeavouring  to  incense  the  Judge 
against  me,  for  he  was  an  evil-minded  man,  and  full 
of  envy  against  me;  and  yet  he  could  speak  high 


164:         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


things,  and  use  the  Scripture  words,  and  say,  "  Be- 
hold, I  make  all  things  new."  But  I  told  him,  then 
he  must  have  a  new  God,  for  his  God  was  his  belly. 
Besides  him  came  also  that  envious  justice,  John  Saw- 
rey.  I  told  him  his  heart  was  rotten,  and  he  was  full 
of  hypocrisy  to  the  brim.  Several  other  people  also 
came,  of  whose  states  the  Lord  gave  me  a  discerning; 
and  I  spoke  to  their  conditions.*  While  I  was  in 
those  parts,  Richard  Famsworth  and  James  Nayler 
came  to  see  me  and  the  family;  and  Judge  Fell,  being 
satisfied  that  it  was  the  way  of  truth,  notwithstand- 
ing all  their  opposition,  suffered  the  meeting  to  be 
kept  at  his  house.  A  great  meeting  was  settled  there 
in  the  Lord's  power,  which  continued  near  forty 
years,  until  the  year  1690,  when  a  new  meeting-house 
was  erected  near  it.^ 

On  the  market-day  I  went  to  Lancaster,  and  spoke 
through  the  market  in  the  dreadful  power  of  God, 
declaring  the  day  of  the  Lord  to  the  people,  and  cry- 
ing out  against  all  their  deceitful  merchandise.  I 
preached  righteousness  and  truth  unto  them,  which 

*  "Speaking  to  their  conditions"  meant  describing  their  inward 
state. 

I 

®  Justice  Fell  never  became  an  avowed  Friend.  He, 
however,  had  much  sympathy  with  the  movement,  and 
used  his  influence  and  authority  to  protect  the  Friends. 
He  put  no  hindrance  in  the  way  of  his  wife,  who  did 
join  them.  Swarthmore  Hall  was  always  open  to  trav- 
elling ministers,  and  there  is  good  reason  to  believe 
that  substantial  assistance  went  from  Swarthmore  Hall 
to  those  who  were  labouring  throughout  the  kingdom. 
Margaret  Fell  was  a  great-granddaughter  of  Anne 


A  New  Era  Begins. 


165 


all  should  follow  after,  walk  and  live  in,  directing 
them  how  and  where  they  might  find  and  receive  the 
Spirit  of  God  to  guide  them  thereinto. 

After  I  had  cleared  myself  in  the  market,  I  went 
to  my  lodging,  whither  several  people  came;  and 
many  were  convinced  who  have  since  stood  faithful 
to  the  truth. 

The  First-day  following,  in  the  forenoon,  I  had  a 
great  meeting  in  the  street  at  Lancaster,  amongst  the 
soldiers  and  people,  to  whom  I  declared  the  Word  of 
life,  and  the  everlasting  truth.  I  opened  unto  them 
that  all  the  traditions  they  had  lived  in,  all  their  wor- 
ships and  religions,  and  the  profession  they  made  of 
the  Scriptures,  were  good  for  nothing  while  they 
lived  out  of  the  life  and  power  wliich  those  were  in 
who  gave  forth  the  Scriptures.  I  directed  them  to 
the  Light  of  Christ,  the  heavenly  man,  and  to  the 
Spirit  of  God  in  their  own  hearts,  that  they  might 
come  to  be  acquainted  with  God  and  Christ,  receive 
Him  for  their  teacher,  and  know  His  kingdom  set  up 
in  them. 

In  the  afternoon  I  went  to  the  steeple-house  at 
Lancaster,  and  declared  the  truth  to  the  priest  and 
people,  laying  open  before  them  the  deceit  they  lived 
in,  and  directing  them  to  the  power  and  Spirit  of  God 
which  they  wanted.    But  they  haled  me  out,  and 


Askew,  who  was  burned  at  the  stake  in  1545.  Judge 
Fell  was  member  for  Parliament  in  1645. 

This  meeting-house,  erected  near  Swarthmore  Hall 
in  1690,  the  gift  of  George  Fox,  is  still  standing,  and 
contains  many  objects  of  interest. 


166  George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


stoned  me  along  the  street  till  I  came  to  John  Law- 
son's  house. 

Another  First-day  I  went  to  a  steeple-house  by  the 
water-side,  where  one  Whitehead  was  priest.  To  him 
and  to  the  people  I  declared  the  truth  in  the  dread- 
fid  power  of  God.  There  came  a  doctor  so  full  of 
envy  that  he  said  he  could  find  it  in  his  heart  to  run 
me  through  with  his  rapier,  though  he  were  hanged 
for  it  the  next  day;  yet  this  man  came  afterwards  to 
be  convinced  of  the  truth  so  far  as  to  be  loving  to 
Friends.  Some  were  convinced  thereabouts  who 
willingly  sat  down  imder  the  ministry  of  Christ, 
their  teacher;  and  a  meeting  was  settled  there  in  the 
power  of  God,  which  has  continued  to  this  day. 

After  this  I  returned  into  Westmoreland,  and 
spoke  through  Kendal  on  a  market-day.    So  dreadful  I 
was  the  power  of  God  upon  me,  that  people  flew  like| 
chaff  before  me  into  their  houses.   I  warned  them  of 
the  mighty  day  of  the  Lord,  and  exhorted  them  to  j 
hearken  to  the  voice  of  God  in  their  own  hearts,  who  i 
was  now  come  to  teach  His  people  Himself.  When 
some  opposed,  many  others  took  my  part.    At  last 
some  fell  to  fighting  about  me;  but  I  went  and  spoke 
to  them,  and  they  parted  again.    Several  were  con- 
vinced. 

After  I  had  travelled  up  and  down  in  those  coun- 
tries, and  had  had  great  meetings,  I  came  to  Swarth- 
more  again.  And  when  I  had  visited  Friends  in 
those  parts,  I  heard  of  a  great  meeting  the  priests 
were  to  have  at  Ulverstone,  on  a  lecture-day.  I  went 
to  it,  and  into  the  steeple-house  in  the  dread  and 
power  of  the  Lord.    When  the  priest  had  done,  I 


A  New  Era  Begins. 


167 


spoke  among  them  the  Word  of  the  Lord,  which  was 
as  a  hammer,  and  as  a  fire  amongst  them.  And  though 
Lampitt,  the  priest  of  the  place,  had  been  at  variance 
with  most  of  the  priests  before,  yet  against  the  truth 
they  all  joined  togethe;  But  the  mighty  power  of 
the  Lord  was  over  all;  and  so  wonderful  was  the 
appearance  thrrcof,  that  priest  Bennett  said  the 
church  shook,  insomuch  that  he  was  afraid  and  trem- 
bled. And  when  he  had  spoken  a  few  confused 
words  he  hastened  out  for  fear  it  should  fall  on  his 
head.  Many  priests  got  together  there ;  but  they  had 
no  power  as  yet  to  persecute. 

When  I  had  cleared  my  conscience  towards  them, 
I  went  up  to  Swarthmore  again,  whither  came  four 
or  five  of  the  priests.  Coming  to  discourse,  I  asked 
them  whether  any  one  of  them  could  say  he  had  ever 
had  the  word  of  the  Lord  to  go  and  speak  to  such  or 
such  a  people.  None  of  them  durst  say  he  had;  but 
one  of  them  burst  out  into  a  passion  and  said  that  he 
could  speak  his  experiences  as  well  as  L 

I  told  him  experience  was  one  thing ;  but  to  receive 
and  go  with  a  message,  and  to  have  a  Word  from  the 
Lord,  as  the  prophets  and  apostles  had  had  and  done, 
and  as  I  had  done  to  them,  this  was  another  thing. 
And  therefore  I  put  it  to  them  again,  "  Can  any  of 
you  say  you  have  ever  had  a  command  or  word  from 
the  Lord  immediately  at  any  time  ?  "  but  none  of 
them  could  say  so. 

Then  I  told  them  that  the  false  prophets,  the  false 
apostles,  and  the  antichrists,  could  use  the  words  of 
the  true  prophets,  the  true  apostles,  and  of  Christ, 
and  would  speak  of  other  men's  experiences,  though 


168         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

they  themselves  never  knew  or  heard  the  voice  of 
God  or  Christ;  and  that  such  as  they  might  obtain 
the  good  words  and  experiences  of  others.  This  puz- 
zled them  much,  and  laid  them  open. 

At  another  time,  when  I  was  discoursing  with 
several  priests  at  Judge  Fell's  house,  and  he  was  by, 
n/  I  asked  them  the  same  question, — whether  any  of 
them  had  ever  heard  the  voice  of  God  or  Christ,  to 
bid  him  go  to  such  and  such  a  people,  to  declare  His 
word  or  messuage  unto  them.  Any  one,  I  told  them, 
that  could  but  read,  might  declare  the  experiences  of 
the  prophets  and  apostles,  which  were  recorded  in  the 
Scriptures.  Thereupon  Thomas  Taylor,"  an  ancient 
priest,  did  ingenuously  confess  before  Judge  Fell 
that  he  had  never  heard  the  voice  of  God,  nor  of 
Christ,  to  send  him  to  any  people;  but  that  he  spoke 
his  experiences,  and  the  experiences  of  the  saints  in 
former  ages,  and  that  he  preached.  This  very  much 
confirmed  Judge  Fell  in  the  persuasion  he  had  that 
the  priests  were  wrong;  for  he  had  thought  formerly, 
as  the  generality  of  people  then  did,  that  they  were 
sent  from  God. 

Now  began  the  priests  to  rage  more  and  more,  and 
as  much  as  they  could  to  stir  up  persecution.  James 
Nayler  and  Francis  Howgill  were  cast  into  prison  in 
Appleby  jail,  at  the  instigation  of  the  malicious 
priests,  some  of  whom  prophesied  that  within  a 


"This  Thomas  Taylor  was  educated  at  Oxford,  and 
was  a  man  of  profound  insight.  He  became  a  valiant 
supporter  of  Fox  and  a  convincing  minister. 


A  New  Era  Begins. 


169 


month  we  should  be  all  scattered  again,  and  come  to 
nothing.  But,  blessed  for  ever  be  the  worthy  name 
of  the  Lord,  His  work  went  on  and  prospered;  for 
about  this  time  John  Audland,  Francis  Howgill, 
John  Camm,  Edward  Burrough,  Richard  Hubber- 
thom,  Miles  Hubbersty,  and  Miles  Halhead,  with 
several  others,  being  endued  with  power  from  on 
high,  came  forth  in  the  work  of  the  ministry,  and 
approved  themselves  faithful  labourers  therein,  trav- 
elling up  and  down,  and  preaching  the  gospel  freely; 
by  means  whereof  multitudes  were  convinced,  and 
many  effectually  turned  to  the  Lord. 

On  a  lecture-day  I  was  moved  to  go  to  the  steeple- 
house  at  Ulverstone,  where  were  abundance  of  pro- 
fessors, priests,  and  people.  I  went  near  to  priest 
Lampitt,  who  was  blustering  on  in  his  preaching. 
After  the  Lord  had  opened  my  mouth  to  speak,  John 
Sawrey,  the  justice,  came  to  me  and  said  that  if  I 
would  speak  according  to  the  Scriptures,  I  should 
speak.  I  admired  him  for  speaking  so  to  me,  and 
told  him  I  would  speak  according  to  the  Scriptures, 
and  bring  the  Scriptures  to  prove  what  I  had  to  say; 
for  I  had  something  to  speak  to  Lampitt  and  to  them. 
Then  he  said  I  should  not  speak,  contradicting  him- 
self, for  he  had  said  just  before  that  I  should  speak  if 
I  would  speak  according  to  the  Scriptures.  The  peo- 
ple were  quiet,  and  heard  me  gladly,  till  this  Justice 
Sawrey  (who  was  the  first  stirrer-up  of  cruel  perse- 
cution in  the  north)  incensed  them  against  me,  and 
set  them  on  to  hale,  beat,  and  bruise  me.  But  now 
on  a  sudden  the  people  were  iii  a  rage,  and  fell  upon 
me  in  the  steeple-house  before  his  face,  knocked  me 


170         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

down,  kicked  me,  and  trampled  upon  me.  So  great 
was  the  uproar,  that  some  tumbled  over  their  seats 
for  fear. 

At  last  he  came  and  took  me  from  the  people,  led 
me  out  of  the  steeple-house,  and  put  me  into  the 
hands  of  the  constables  and  other  officers,  bidding 
them  whip  me,  and  put  me  out  of  the  town.  They 
led  me  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  some  taking  hold 
by  my  collar,  some  by  my  arms  and  shoulders;  and 
they  shook  and  dragged  me  along. 

Many  friendly  people  being  come  to  the  market, 
and  some  to  the  steeple-house  to  hear  me,  divers  of 
these  they  knocked  down  also,  and  broke  their  heads, 
so  that  the  blood  ran  down  from  several;  and  Judge 
Fell's  son  running  after  to  see  what  they  would  do 
with  me,  they  threw  him  into  a  ditch  of  water,  some 
of  them  crying,  "  Knock  the  teeth  out  of  his  head." 

When  they  had  haled  me  to  the  common  moss- 
side,  a  multitude  following,  the  constables  and  other 
officers  gave  me  some  blows  over  my  back  with  their 
willow  rods,  and  thrust  me  among  the  rude  multi- 
tude, who,  having  furnished  themselves  with  staves, 
hedge-stakes,  holm  or  holly  bushes,  fell  upon  me, 
and  beat  me  on  my  head,  arms,  and  shoulders,  till 
they  had  deprived  me  of  sense;  so  that  I  fell  down 
upon  the  wet  common. 

When  I  recovered  again,  and  saw  myself  lying  in 
a  watery  common,  and  the  people  standing  about  me, 
I  lay  still  a  little  while,  and  the  power  of  the  Lord 
sprang  through  me,  and  the  eternal  refreshings 
revived  me;  so  that  I  stood  up  again  in  the  strength- 
ening power  of  the  eternal  God,  and  stretching  out 


A  New  Era  Begins. 


171 


my  arms  toward  them,  I  said,  with  a  loud  voice, 
"  Strike  again ;  here  are  my  arms,  my  head,  and  my 
cheeks." 

There  was  in  the  company  a  mason,  a  professor, 
but  a  rude  fellow,  who  with  his  walking  rule-staS 
gave  me  a  blow  with  all  his  might  just  over  the  back 
of  my  hand,  as  it  was  stretched  out ;  with  which  blow 
my  hand  was  so  bruised,  and  my  arm  so  benumbed, 
that  I  could  not  draw  it  to  me  again.  Some  of  the 
people  cried,  "  He  hath  spoiled  his  hand  for  ever 
having  the  use  of  it  any  more."  But  I  looked  at  it  in 
the  love  of  God  (for  I  was  in  the  love  of  God  to  all 
that  persecuted  me),  and  after  awhile  the  Lord's 
power  sprang  through  me  again,  and  through  my 
hand  and  arm,  so  that  in  a  moment  I  recovered 
strength  in  my  hand  and  arm  in  the  sight  of  them 
all. 

Then  they  began  to  fall  out  among  themselves. 
Some  of  them  came  to  me,  and  said  that  if  I  woiild 
give  them  money  they  would  secure  me  from  the 
rest.  But  I  was  moved  of  the  Lord  to  declare  the 
Word  of  life,  and  showed  them  their  false  Christi- 
anity, and  the  fruits  of  their  priest's  ministry,  tell- 
ing them  that  they  were  more  like  heathens  and 
Jews  than  true  Christians. 

Then  was  I  moved  of  the  Lord  to  come  up  again 
through  the  midst  of  the  people,  and  go  into  TJlver- 
stone  market.  As  I  went,  there  met  me  a  soldier, 
with,  his  sword  by  his  side.  "  Sir,"  said  he  to  me,  "  I 
see  you  arc  a  man,  and  I  am  ashamed  and  grieved 
that  you  should  be  thus  abused  ";  and  he  offered  to 
assist  me  in  what  he  could.  I  told  him  that  the  Lord's 


172         George  Fox:  An  Auiohiography. 

power  was  over  all;  and  I  walked  through  the  people 
in  the  market,  none  of  whom  had  power  to  touch  me 
then.  But  some  of  the  market  people  abusing  some 
Friends  in  the  market,  I  turned  about,  and  saw  this 
soldier  among  them  with  his  naked  rapier;  where- 
upon I  ran,  and,  catching  hold  of  the  hand  his  rapier 
was  in,  bid  him  put  up  his  sword  again  if  he  would 
go  along  with  me. 

About  two  weeks  after  this  I  went  into  Walney 
island,  and  James  Nayler  went  with  me.  We  stayed 
one  night  at  a  little  town  on  this  side,  called  Cockan, 
and  had  a  meeting  there,  where  one  was  convinced. 

After  a  while  there  came  a  man  with  a  pistol, 
whereupon  the  people  ran  out  of  doors.  He  called  for 
me;  and  when  I  came  out  to  him  he  snapped  his  pistol 
at  me,  but  it  would  not  go  off.  Tliis  caused  the  people 
to  make  a  great  bustle  about  him;  and  some  of  them 
took  hold  of  him,  to  prevent  his  doing  mischief.  But 
I  was  moved  in  the  Lord's  power  to  speak  to  him ;  and 
he  was  so  struck  by  the  power  of  the  Lord  that  he 
trembled  for  fear,  and  went  and  hid  himself.  Thus 
the  Lord's  power  came  over  them  all,  though  there 
was  a  great  rage  in  the  country. 

Next  morning  I  went  over  in  a  boat  to  James  Lan- 
caster's. As  soon  as  I  came  to  land  there  rushed  out 
about  forty  men  with  staves,  clubs,  and  fishing-poles, 
who  fell  upon  me,  beating  and  punching  me,  and 
endeavouring  to  thrust  me  backward  into  the  sea. 
When  they  had  thrust  me  almost  into  the  sea,  and  I 
saw  they  would  knock  me  down  in  it,  I  went  up  into 
the  midst  of  them;  but  they  laid  at  me  again,  and 
knocked  me  down,  and  stunned  me. 


A  New  Era  Begins. 


173 


When  I  came  to  myself,  I  looked  up  and  saw 
James  Lancaster's  wife  throwing  stones  at  my  face, 
and  her  husband,  James  Lancaster,  was  lying  over 
me,  to  keep  the  blows  and  the  stones  off  me.  For  the 
people  had  persuaded  James  Lancaster's  wife  that  I 
had  bewitched  her  husband,  and  had  promised  her 
that  if  she  would  let  them  know  when  I  came  thither 
they  would  be  my  death.  And  having  got  knowledge 
of  my  coming,  many  of  the  town  rose  up  in  this  man- 
ner with  clubs  and  staves  to  kill  me;  but  the  Lord's 
power  preserved  me,  that  they  could  not  take  away 
my  life. 

At  length  I  got  up  on  my  feet,  but  tkey  beat  me 
down  again  into  the  boat;  which  James  Lancaster 
observing,  he  presently  came  into  it,  and  set  me  over 
the  water  from  them;  but  while  we  were  on  the 
water  within  their  reach  they  struck  at  us  with  long 
poles,  and  threw  stones  after  us.  By  the  time  we 
were  come  to  the  other  side,  we  saw  them  beating 
James  Nayler;  for  whilst  they  had  been  beating  me, 
he  walked  up  into  a  field,  and  they  never  minded  him 
till  I  was  gone ;  then  they  fell  upon  him,  and  all  their 
cry  was,  "  Kill  him,  kill  him." 

When  I  was  come  over  to  the  town  again,  on  the 
other  side  of  the  water,  the  townsmen  rose  up  with 
pitchforks,  flails,  and  staves,  to  keep  me  out  of  the 
town,  crying,  "  Kill  him,  knock  him  on  the  head, 
bring  the  cart,  and  carry  him  away  to  the  church- 
yard." So  after  they  had  abused  me,  they  drove  me 
some  distance  out  of  the  town,  and  there  left  me. 

Then  James  Lancaster  went  back  to  look  after 
James  Nayler;  and  I  being  now  left  alone,  went  to  a 


174         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

ditch  of  water,  and  having  washed  myself  (for  they 
had  besmeared  my  face,  hands,  and  clothes  with  miry 
dirt),  I  walked  about  three  miles  to  Thomas  Hutton's 
house,  where  lodged  Thomas  Lawson,  the  priest  that 
was  convinced. 

When  I  came  in  I  could  hardly  speak  to  them,  I 
was  so  bruised;  only  I  told  them  where  I  left  James 
Nayler.  So  they  took  each  of  them  a  horse,  and  went 
and  brought  him  thither  that  night.  The  next  day 
Margaret  Fell  hearing  of  it,  sent  a  horse  for  me;  but 
I  was  so  sore  with  bruises,  I  was  not  able  to  bear  the 
shaking  of  the  horse  without  much  pain. 

When  I  was  come  to  Swarthmore,  Justice  Sawrej 
and  one  Justice  Thompson,  of  Lancaster,  granted  a 
warrant  against  me;  but  Judge  Fell  coming  home,  it 
was  not  served  upon  me;  for  he  was  out  of  the  coun- 
try all  this  time  that  I  was  thus  cruelly  abused. 
When  he  came  home  he  sent  forth  warrants  into  the 
isle  of  Walney,  to  apprehend  all  those  riotous  per- 
sons; whereupon  some  of  them  fled  the  country. 

James  Lancaster's  wife  was  afterwards  convinced 
of  the  truth,  and  repented  of  the  evils  she  had  done 
me;  and  so  did  others  of  those  bitter  persecutors 
also;  but  the  judgments  of  God  fell  upon  some  of 
them,  and  destruction  is  come  upon  many  of  them 
since.  Judge  Fell  asked  me  to  give  him  a  relation  of 
my  persecution;  but  I  told  him  they  could  do  no 
otherwise  in  the  spirit  wherein  they  were,  and  that 
they  manifested  the  fruits  of  their  priest's  ministry, 
and  their  profession  and  religion  to  be  wrong.  So 
he  told  his  wife  I  made  light  of  it,  and  that  I  spoke 


A  New  Era  Begins.  175 


of  it  as  a  man  that  had  not  been  concerned;  for, 

indeed,  the  Lord's  power  healed  me  again. 

The  time  for  the  sessions  at  Lancaster  being  come, 
I  went  thither  with  Judge  Fell,  who  on  the  way  told 
me  he  had  never  had  such  a  matter  brought  before 
him  before,  and  he  could  not  well  tell  what  to  do  in 
the  business.  I  told  him,  when  Paul  was  brought 
before  the  rulers,  and  the  Jews  and  priests  came 
down  to  accuse  him,  and  laid  many  false  things  to 
his  charge,  Paul  stood  still  all  that  while.  And  when 
they  had  done,  Festus,  the  governor,  and  king 
Agrippa,  beckoned  to  him  to  speak  for  himself; 
which  Paul  did,  and  cleared  himself  of  all  those  false 
accusations;  so  he  might  do  with  me. 

Being  come  to  Lancaster,  Justice  Sawrey  and  Jus- 
tice Thompson  having  granted  a  warrant  to  appre- 
hend me,  though  I  was  not  apprehended  by  it,  yet 
hearing  of  it,  I  appeared  at  the  sessions,  where  there 
appeared  against  me  about  forty  priests.  These  had 
chosen  one  Marshall,  priest  of  Lancaster,  to  be  their 
orator;  and  had  provided  one  yoimg  priest,  and  two 
priests'  sons,  to  bear  witness  against  me,  who  had 
sworn  beforehand  that  I  had  sj>oken  blasphemy. 

When  the  justices  were  sat,  they  heard  all  that  the 
priests  and  their  witnesses  could  say  and  chaise 
against  me,  their  orator  Marshall  sitting  by,  and  ex- 
plaining their  sayings  for  them.  But  the  witnesses 
were  so  confounded  that  they  discovered  themselves 
to  be  false  witnesses;  for  when  the  court  had  exam- 
ined one  of  them  upon  oath,  and  then  began  to  exam- 
ine another,  he  was  at  such  loss  he  could  not  answer 
directly,  but  said  the  other  could  say  it.  Which  made 


176         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

the  justices  say  to  him,  "  Have  you  sworn  it,  and 
given  it  in  already  upon  your  oath,  and  now  say  that 
he  can  say  it  ?  It  seems  you  did  not  hear  those  words 
spoken  yourself,  though  you  have  sworn  it." 

There  were  then  in  court  several  who  had  been  at 
that  meeting,  wherein  the  witnesses  swore  I  spoke 
those  blasphemous  words  which  the  priests  accused 
me  of;  and  these,  being  men  of  integrity  and  repu- 
tation in  the  country,  did  declare  and  affirm  in  court 
that  the  oath  which  the  witnesses  had  taken  against 
me  was  altogether  false;  and  that  no  such  words  as 
they  had  sworn  against  me  were  spoken  by  me  at  that 
meeting.  Indeed,  most  of  the  serious  men  of  that 
side  of  the  country,  then  at  the  sessions,  had  been  at 
that  meeting;  and  had  heard  me  both  at  that  and  at 
other  meetings  also. 

This  was  taken  notice  of  by  Colonel  West,  who, 
being  a  justice  of  the  peace,  was  then  upon  the 
bench;  and  having  long  been  weak  in  body,  blessed 
the  Lord  and  said  that  He  had  healed  him  that  day; 
adding  that  he  never  saw  so  many  sober  people  and 
good  faces  together  in  all  his  life.  Then,  turning  him- 
self to  me,  he  said  in  the  open  sessions,  "  George,  if 
thou  hast  anything  to  say  to  the  people,  thou  mayest 
freely  declare  it." 

I  was  moved  of  the  Lord  to  speak;  and  as  soon  as  I 
began,  priest  Marshall,  the  orator  for  the  rest  of  the 
priests,  went  his  way.  That  which  I  was  moved  to 
declare  was  this:  that  the  holy  Scriptures  were  given 
forth  by  the  Spirit  of  God ;  and  that  all  people  must 
come  to  the  Spirit  of  God  in  themselves  in  order  to 
know  God  and  Christ,  of  whom  the  prophets  and 


A  New  Era  Begins. 


177 


apostles  learnt:  and  that  by  the  same  Spirit  all  men 
might  know  the  holy  Scriptures.  For  as  the  Spirit 
of  God  was  in  them  that  gave  forth  the  Scriptures, 
so  the  same  Spirit  must  be  in  all  them  that  come  to 
understand  the  Scriptures.  By  this  Spirit  they  might 
have  fellowship  with  the  Father,  with  the  Son,  with 
the  Scriptures,  and  with  one  another:  and  without 
this  Spirit  they  can  know  neither  God,  Christ,  nor 
the  Scriptures,  nor  have  a  right  fellowship  one  with 
another. 

I  had  no  sooner  spoken  these  words  than  about 
half  a  dozen  priests,  that  stood  behind  me,  burst  into 
a  passion.  One  of  them,  whose  name  was  Jackus, 
amongst  other  things  that  he  spake  against  the 
Truth,  said  that  the  Spirit  and  the  letter  were  insep- 
arable. I  replied,  "  Then  every  one  that  hath  the 
letter  hath  the  Spirit ;  and  they  might  buy  the  Spirit 
with  the  letter  of  the  Scriptures." 

This  plain  discovery  of  darkness  in  the  priest 
moved  Judge  Fell  and  Colonel  West  to  reprove  them 
openly,  and  tell  them  that  according  to  that  position 
they  might  carry  the  Spirit  in  their  pockets  as  they 
did  the  Scriptures.  Upon  this  the  priests,  being  con- 
founded and  put  to  silence,  rushed  out  in  a  rage 
against  the  justices,  because  they  could  not  have  their, 
bloody  ends  upon  me.  The  justices,  seeing  the  wit- 
nesses did  not  agree,  and  perceiving  that  they  were 
brought  to  answer  the  priests'  envy,  and  finding  that 
all  their  evidences  were  not  sufiicient  in  law  to  make 
good  their  charge  against  me,  discharged  me. 

After  Judge  Fell  had  spoken  to  Justice  Sawrey 
and  Justice  Thompson  concerning  the  warrant  they 


178         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

had  given  forth  against  me,  and  showing  them  the 
errors  thereof,  he  and  Colonel  West  granted  a  super- 
sedeas* to  stop  the  execution  of  it.  Thus  I  was 
cleared  in  open  sessions  of  those  lying  accusations 
which  the  malicious  priests  had  laid  to  my  charge: 
and  multitudes  of  people  praised  God  that  day,  for 
it  was  a  joyful  day  to  many.  Justice  Benson,  of 
Westmoreland,  was  convinced;  and  Major  Ripan, 
mayor  of  the  town  of  Lancaster,  also. 

It  was  a  day  of  everlasting  salvation  to  hundreds 
of  people :  for  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  way  to  the 
Father,  the  free  Teacher,  was  exalted  and  set  up;  His 
everlasting  gospel  was  preached,  and  the  Word  of 
eternal  life  was  declared  over  the  heads  of  the 
priests,  and  all  such  lucrative  preachers.  For  the 
Lord  opened  many  mouths  that  day  to  speak  His 
Word  to  the  priests,  and  several  friendly  people  and 
professors  reproved  them  in  their  inns,  and  in  the 
streets,  so  that  they  fell,  like  an  old  rotten  house:  and 
the  cry  was  among  the  people  that  the  Quakers  had 
got  the  day,  and  the  priests  were  fallen. 


• 


*  A  writ  or  order  from  the  Court  setting  aside  or  staying  the 
execution  of  the  original  writ. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


In  ^Prison  ^gain 

1653. 

About  tke  beginning  of  the  year  1653  I  returned 
to  Swarthmore,  and  going  to  a  meeting  at  Gleaston, 
a  professor  challenged  to  dispute  with  me.  I  went  to 
the  house  where  he  was,  and  called  him  to  come 
forth;  but  the  Lord's  power  was  over  him,  so  that 
he  durst  not  meddle. 

I  departed  thence,  visited  the  meetings  of  Friends 
in  Lancashire,  and  came  back  to  Swarthmore.  Great 
openings  I  had  from  the  Lord,  not  only  of  divine  and 
spiritual  matters,  but  also  of  outward  things  relating 
to  the  civil  government. 

Being  one  day  in  Swarthmore  Hall,  when  Judge 
Fell  and  Justice  Benson  were  talking  of  the  news, 
and  of  the  Parliament  then  sitting  (called  the  Long 
Parliament),  I  was  moved  to  tell  them  that  before 
that  day  two  weeks  the  Parliament  should  be  broken 
up,  and  the  Speaker  plucked  out  of  his  chair.  That 
day  two  weeks  Justice  Benson  told  Judge  Fell  that 
now  he  saw  George  was  a  true  prophet;  for  Oliver 
had  broken  up  the  Parliament.^ 


^  Cromwell  ejected  the  "  Rump  "  Parliament  April 
20th,  1653.  There  is  no  contemporary  authentification 
of  this  prophecy,  but  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt  the 
correctness  of  this  account.  Such  cases  of  specific  fore- 


180         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


About  this  time  I  was  in  a  fast  for  about  ten  days, 
my  spirit  being  greatly  exercised  on  Truth's  behalf: 
for  James  Milner  and  Richard  Myer  went  out  into 
imaginations,  and  a  company  followed  them.  This 
James  Milner  and  some  of  his  company  had  true 
openings  at  the  first;  but  getting  up  into  pride  and 
exaltation  of  spirit,  they  ran  out  from  Truth.  I  was 
sent  for  to  them,  and  was  moved  of  the  Lord  to  go 
and  show  them  their  outgoings.  They  were  brought 
to  see  their  folly,  and  condemned  it;  and  came  into 
the  way  of  Truth  again. 

After  some  time  I  went  to  a  meeting  at  Arnside, 
where  was  Richard  Myer,  who  had  been  long  lame 
of  one  of  his  arms.  I  was  moved  of  the  Lord  to  say 
imto  him  amongst  all  the  people,  "  Stand  up  upon 
thy  legs,"  for  he  was  sitting  down.  And  he  stood  up, 
and  stretched  out  his  arm  that  had  been  lame  a  long 
time,  and  said,  "  Be  it  known  imto  you,  all  people, 
that  this  day  I  am  healed."  ^  Yet  his  parents  could 
hardly  believe  it;  but  after  the  meeting  was  done, 
they  had  him  aside,  took  off  his  doublet,  and  then 
saw  it  was  true. 


seeing  have  been  common  throughout  the  entire  history 
of  Friends.  They  have  received  some  slight  investiga- 
tion by  the  London  branch  of  the  Society  for  Psychical 
Research,  though  they  have  never  received  the  care- 
ful investigation  which  they  deserve. 

^  This  case  of  healing  belongs  in  the  inexhaustible 
list  of  cases  of  healing  by  faith.  There  are  many  forms 
of  mental  healing  and  of  faith  healing,  and  the  re- 
searches of  modern  psychology  have  given  us  a  princi- 


In  Prison  Again. 


181 


He  came  soon  after  to  Swarthmore  meeting,  and 
there  declared  how  the  Lord  had  healed  him.  Yet 
after  this  the  Lord  commanded  him  to  go  to  York 
with  a  message  from  Him,  which  he  disobeyed;  and 
the  Lord  struck  him  again,  so  that  he  died  about 
three-quarters  of  a  year  after. 

]^ow  were  great  threatenings  given  forth  in  Cum- 
berland that  if  ever  I  came  there  they  would  take 
away  my  life.  When  I  heard  it  I  was  drawn  to  go 
into  Cumberland;  and  went  to  Miles  Wennington's, 
in  the  same  parish  from  which  those  threatenings 
came:  but  they  had  not  power  to  touch  me. 

On  a  First-day  I  went  into  the  steeple-house  at 
Bootle;  *  and  when  the  priest  had  done,  I  began  to 
speak.  But  the  people  were  exceeding  rude,  and 
struck  and  beat  me  in  the  yard;  one  gave  me  a  very 
great  blow  over  my  wrist,  so  that  the  people  thought 
he  had  broken  my  hand  to  pieces.  The  constable  was 
very  desirous  to  keep  the  peace,  and  would  have  set 
some  of  them  that  struck  me  by  the  heels,  if  I  would 
have  given  way  to  it.  After  my  service  amongst 
them  was  over,  I  went  to  Joseph  Nicholson's  house, 
and  the  constable  went  a  little  way  with  us,  to  keep 
off  the  rude  multitude. 

In  the  afternoon  I  went  again.   The  priest  had  got 

*In  Cumberland. 


pie  of  explanation  for  all  cures  of  this  sort.  All  such 
remarkable  events  seemed  to  George  Fox  to  partake 
of  the  miraculous  and  most  naturally  gave  him  the  im- 
pression that  he  was  a  peculiarly-chosen  instrument  of 
the  Lord. 


182         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

to  help  him  another  priest,  that  came  from  London, 
and  was  highly  accounted  of.  Before  I  went  into 
the  steeple-house,  I  sat  a  little  upon  the  cross,  and 
Friends  with  me;  hut  the  Friends  were  moved  to  go 
into  the  steeple-house,  and  I  went  in  after  them. 

The  London  priest  was  preaching.  He  gathered 
up  all  the  Scriptures  he  could  think  of  that  spoke  of 
false  prophets,  and  antichrists,  and  deceivers,  and 
threw  them  upon  us;  but  when  he  had  done  I  recol- 
lected all  those  Scriptures,  and  brought  them  back 
upon  himself.  Then  the  people  fell  upon  me  in  a 
rude  manner;  but  the  constable  charged  them  to 
keep  the  peace,  and  so  made  them  quiet  again.  Then 
the  priest  began  to  rage,  and  said  I  must  not  speak 
there.  I  told  him  he  had  his  hour-glass,  by  which  he 
had  preached ;  and  he  having  done,  the  time  was  free 
for  me,  as  well  as  for  him,  for  he  was  but  a  stranger 
there  himself.' 

So  I  opened  the  Scriptures  to  them,  and  let  them 
see  that  those  Scriptures  that  spoke  of  the  false 
prophets,  and  antichrists,  and  deceivers,  described 
them  and  their  generation;  and  belonged  to  them 
who  were  found  walking  in  their  steps,  and  bringing 
forth  their  fruits;  and  not  unto  us,  who  were  not 
guilty  of  such  things.  I  manifested  to  them  that  they 
were  out  of  the  steps  of  the  true  prophets  and  apos- 


^  This  passage  throws  interesting  light  on  the  church 
customs  of  the  time.  After  the  minister  has  preached 
his  hour  by  the  hour  glass  there  is  then  liberty  for  any 
one  to  speak.  George  Fox  himself  evidently  did  not 
observe  the  hour  glass. 


In  Prison  Again. 


183 


ties;  and  showed  them  clearly,  by  the  fruits  and 
marks,  that  it  was  they  of  whom  those  Scriptures 
spoke,  and  not  we.  And  I  declared  the  Truth,  and 
the  Word  of  life  to  the  people;  and  directed  them  to 
Christ  their  teacher. 

When  I  came  down  again  to  Joseph  ITicholson's 
house,  I  saw  a  great  hole  in  my  coat,  which  was  cut 
with  a  knife;  but  it  was  not  cut  through  mv  doublet, 
for  the  Lord  had  prevented  their  mischief.  The  next 
day  there  was  a  rude,  wicked  man  who  would  have 
done  violence  to  a  Friend,  but  the  Lord's  power 
stopped  him. 

N'ow  was  I  moved  to  send  James  Lancaster  to 
appoint  a  meeting  at  the  steeple-house  of  John  Wil- 
kinson, near  Cockermouth, — a  preacher  in  great 
repute,  who  had  three  parishes  under  him.  I  stayed 
at  Milholm,  in  Bootle,  till  James  Lancaster  came 
back  again.  In  the  meantime  some  of  the  gentry  of 
the  country  had  formed  a  plot  against  me,  and  had 
given  a  little  boy  a  rapier,  with  which  to  do  me  mis- 
chief. They  came  with  the  boy  to  Joseph  Nichol- 
son's to  seek  me;  but  the  Lord  had  so  ordered  it  that 
I  was  gone  into  the  fields.  They  met  with  James 
Lancaster,  but  did  not  much  abuse  him;  and  not  find- 
ing me  in  the  house,  they  went  away  again.  So  I 
walked  up  and  down  in  the  fields  that  night,  as  very 
often  I  used  to  do,  and  did  not  go  to  bed. 

We  came  the  nCxt  day  to  the  steeple-house  where 
James  Lancaster  had  appointed  the  meeting.  There 
were  at  this  meeting  twelve  soldiers  and  their  wives, 
from  Carlisle;  and  the  country  people  came  in,  as  if 
it  were  to  a  fair.   I  lay  at  a  house  somewhat  short  of 


184         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

tlie  place,  so  that  many  Friends  got  thither  before 
me.  When  I  came  I  found  James  Lancaster  speak- 
ing under  a  yew  tree  which  was  so  full  of  people  that 
I  feared  they  would  break  it  down. 

I  looked  about  for  a  place  to  stand  upon,  to  speak 
unto  the  people,  for  they  lay  all  up  and  down,  like 
people  at  a  leaguer.*  After  I  was  discovered,  a  pro- 
fessor asked  if  I  would  not  go  into  the  church  ?  I, 
seeing  no  place  abroad  convenient  to  speak  to  the 
people  from,  told  him.  Yes;  whereupon  the  people 
rushed  in,  so  that  when  I  came  the  house  and  pulpit 
were  so  full  I  had  much  ado  to  get  in.  Those  that 
could  not  get  in  stood  abroad  about  the  walls. 

When  the  people  were  settled  I  stood  up  on  a  seat, 
and  the  Lord  opened  my  mouth  to  declare  His  ever- 
lasting Truth  and  His  everlasting  day.  When  I  had 
largely  declared  the  Word  of  life  unto  them  for 
about  the  space  of  three  hours,  I  walked  forth 
amongst  the  people,  who  passed  away  well  satisfied. 
Among  the  rest  a  professor  followed  me,  praising 
and  commending  me;  but  his  words  were  like  a  this- 
tle to  me.  Many  hundreds  were  convinced  that  day, 
and  received  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  His  free 
teaching,  with  gladness;  of  whom  some  have  died  in 
the  Truth,  and  many  stand  faithful  witnesses  there- 
of. The  soldiers  also  were  convinced,  and  their  wives. 

After  this  I  went  to  a  village,  and  many  people 
accompanied  me.  As  I  was  sitting  in  a  house  full  of 
people,  declaring  the  Word  of  life  unto  them,  I  cast 
mine  eye  upon  a  woman,  and  discerned  an  imclean 

*  This  indicates  that  he  had  seen  besieging  armies  during  tb* 
Civil  War. 


In  Prison  Again. 


185 


spirit  in  her.  And  I  was  moved  of  the  Lord  to  speak 
sharply  to  her,  and  told  her  she  was  under  the  influ- 
ence of  an  unclean  spirit;*  whereupon  she  went  out 
of  the  room.  Now,  I  being  a  stranger  there,  and 
knowing  nothing  of  the  woman  outwardly,  the  peo- 
ple wondered  at  it,  and  told  me  afterwards  that  I  had 
discovered  a  great  thing;  for  all  the  country  looked 
upon  her  to  be  a  wicked  person. 

The  Lord  had  given  me  a  spirit  of  discerning,  by 
which  I  many  times  saw  the  states  and  conditions  of 
people,  and  could  try  their  spirits.  For  not  long 
before,  as  I  was  going  to  a  meeting,  I  saw  some 
women  in  a  field,  and  I  discerned  an  evil  spirit  in 
them;  and  I  was  moved  to  go  out  of  my  way  into  the 
field  to  them,  and  declare  imto  them  their  conditions. 
At  another  time  there  came  one  into  Swarthmore 
Hall  in  the  meeting  time,  and  I  was  moved  to  speak 
sharply  to  her,  and  told  her  she  was  under  the  power 
of  an  evil  spirit;  and  the  people  said  afterwards  slie 
was  generally  accounted  so.  There  came  also  at 
another  time  another  woman,  and  stood  at  a  distance 
from  me,  and  I  cast  mine  eye  upon  her,  and  said, 
"  Thou  hast  been  an  harlot  ";  for  I  perfectly  saw  the 
condition  and  life  of  the  woman.  The  woman 
answered  and  said  that  many  could  tell  her  of  her 
outward  sins,  but  none  could  tell  her  of  her  inward. 
Then  I  told  her  her  heart  was  not  right  before  the 
Lord,  and  that  from  the  inward  came  the  outward. 


*  It  must  be  remembered  that  Fox  uses  here  the  lan- 
guage and  the  popular  ideas  of  the  time,  as  we  should 
expect  him  to  do. 


186         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


This  woman  came  afterwards  to  be  convinced  of 
God's  truth,  and  became  a  Friend. 

Thence  we  travelled  to  Carlisle,  The  pastor  of 
the  Baptists,  with  most  of  his  hearers,  came  to  the 
abbey,  where  I  had  a  meeting;  and  I  declared  the 
Word  of  life  amongst  them.  Many  of  the  Baptists 
and  of  the  soldiers  were  convinced.  After  the  meet- 
ing the  pastor  of  the  Baptists,  an  high  notionist  and  a 
flashy  man,  asked  me  what  must  be  damned.  I  was 
moved  immediately  to  tell  him  that  that  which  spoke 
in  him  was  to  be  damned.  This  stopped  his  mouth; 
and  the  witness  of  God  was  raised  up  in  him.  I 
opened  to  him  the  states  of  election  and  reprobation; 
so  that  he  said  he  never  heard  the  like  in  his  life.  He 
came  afterwards  to  be  convinced. 

Then  I  went  to  the  castle  among  the  soldiers,  who 
beat  a  drum  and  called  the  garrison  together.  I 
preached  the  Truth  amongst  them,  directing  them 
to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  to  be  their  teacher,  and  to 
the  measure  of  His  Spirit  in  themselves,  by  which 
they  might  be  turned  from  darkness  to  light,  and 
from  the  power  of  Satan  unto  God.  I  warned  them 
all  that  they  should  do  no  violence  to  any  man,  but 
should  show  forth  a  Christian  life:  telling  them  that 
He  who  was  to  be  their  Teacher  would  be  their  con- 
demner  if  they  were  disobedient  to  Him.  So  I  left 
them,  having  no  opposition  from  any  of  them,  except 
the  sergeants,  who  afterwards  came  to  be  convinced. 

On  the  market-day  I  went  up  into  the  market,  to 
the  market-cross.  The  magistrates  had  both  threat- 
ened, and  sent  their  sergeants;  and  the  magistrates' 
wives  had  said  that  if  I  came  there  they  would  pluck 


In  Prison  Again. 


187 


the  hair  off  my  head;  and  the  sergeants  should  take 
me  up.  Nevertheless  I  obeyed  the  Lord  God,  went 
up  on  the  cross,  and  declared  unto  them  that  the  day 
of  the  Lord  was  coming  upon  all  their  deceitful  ways 
and  doings,  and  deceitful  merchandise;  that  they 
should  put  away  all  cozening  and  cheating,  and  keep 
to  Yea  and  Nay,  and  speak  the  truth  one  to  another. 
So  the  Truth  and  the  power  of  God  was  set  over 
them. 

After  I  had  declared  the  Word  of  life  to  the  peo- 
ple, the  throng  being  so  great  that  the  sergeants 
could  not  reach  me,  nor  the  magistrates'  wives  come 
at  me,  I  passed  away  quietly.  Many  people  and  sol- 
diers came  to  me,  and  some  Baptists,  that  were  bitter 
contenders;  amongst  whom  one  of  their  deacons,  an 
envious  man,  finding  that  the  Lord's  power  was  over 
them,  cried  out  for  very  anger.  Whereupon  I  set  my 
eyes  upon  him,  and  spoke  sharply  to  him  in  the  power 
of  the  Lord:  and  he  cried,  "  Do  not  pierce  me  so  with 
thy  eyes;  keep  thy  eyes  off  me."  ' 

The  First-day  following  I  went  into  the  steeple- 
house:  and  after  the  priest  had  done,  I  preached  the 
Truth  to  the  people,  and  declared  the  Word  of  life 
amongst  them.  The  priest  got  away;  and  the  magis- 
trates desired  me  to  go  out  of  the  steeple-house.  But 
I  still  declared  the  way  of  the  Lord  unto  them,  and 


This  is  an  interesting  testimony  to  the  power  of 
George  Fox's  eyes.  The  same  remark  is  made  on  sev- 
eral occasions  during  his  life.  This  power  of  the  eye 
undoubtedly  was  a  considerable  element  in  his  com- 
manding influence  over  others. 


188         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

told  them  I  came  to  speak  the  Word  of  Kfe  and  salva- 
tion from  the  Lord  amongst  them.  The  power  of  the 
Lord  was  dreadful  amongst  them,  so  that  the  people 
trembled  and  shook,  and  they  thought  the  steeple- 
house  shook;  some  of  them  feared  it  would  have 
fallen  down  on  their  heads.  The  magistrates'  wives 
were  in  a  rage,  and  strove  mightily  to  get  at  me:  but 
the  soldiers  and  friendly  people  stood  thick  about  me. 

At  length  the  rude  people  of  the  city  rose,  and 
came  with  staves  and  stones  into  the  steeple-house, 
crying,  "  Down  with  these  round-headed  rogues  " ; 
and  they  threw  stones.  Whereupon  the  governor 
sent  a  file  or  two  of  musketeers  into  the  steeple-house 
to  appease  the  tumult,  and  commanded  all  the  other 
soldiers  out.  So  those  soldiers  took  me  by  the  hand 
in  a  friendly  manner,  and  said  they  would  have  me 
along  with  them. 

When  we  came  into  the  street  the  city  was  in  an 
uproar.  The  governor  came  down;  and  some  of  the 
soldiers  were  put  in  prison  for  standing  by  me  against 
the  townspeople. 

A  lieutenant,  who  had  been  convinced,  came  and 
brought  me  to  his  house,  where  there  was  a  Baptist 
meeting,  and  thither  came  Friends  also.  We  had  a 
very  quiet  meeting;  they  heard  the  Word  of  life 
gladly,  and  many  received  it. 

The  next  day,  the  justices  and  magistrates  of  the 
town  being  gathered  together  in  the  to-\vn-hall,  they 
granted  a  warrant  against  me,  and  sent  for  me  before 
them.  I  was  then  gone  to  a  Baptist's;  but  hearing  of 
it,  I  went  up  to  the  hall,  where  many  rude  people 
were,  some  of  whom  had  sworn  false  things  against 


In  Prison  Again. 


189 


me,  I  had  a  great  deal  of  discourse  with,  the  magis- 
trates, wherein  I  laid  open  the  fruits  of  their  priests' 
preaching,  showed  them  how  they  were  void  of 
Christianity,  and  that,  though  they  were  such  great 
professors  (for  they  were  Independents  and  Presby- 
terians) they  were  without  the  possession  of  that 
which  they  professed.  After  a  large  examination, 
they  committed  me  to  prison  as  a  blasphemer,  a  here- 
tic, and  a  seducer,®  though  they  could  not  justly 
charge  any  such  thing  against  me. 

The  jail  at  Carlisle  had  two  jailers,  an  upper  and 
an  under,  who  looked  like  two  great  bear-wards. 
When  I  was  brought  in  the  upper  jailer  took  me  up 
into  a  great  chamber,  and  told  me  I  should  have  what 
I  would  in  that  room.  But  I  told  him  he  shoi;ld  not 
expect  any  money  from  me,  for  I  would  neither  lie  in 
any  of  his  beds,  nor  eat  any  of  his  victuals.  Then  he 
put  me  into  another  room,  where  after  awhile  I  got 
something  to  lie  upon. 

There  I  lay  till  the  assizes  came,  and  then  all  the 
talk  was  that  I  was  to  be  hanged.  The  high  sheriff, 
Wilfred  Lawson,  stirred  them  much  up  to  take  away 
my  life,  and  said  he  would  guard  me  to  my  execiition 
himself.  They  were  in  a  rage,  and  set  three  mus- 
keteers for  guard  upon  me,  one  at  my  chamber-door, 
another  at  the  stairs-foot,  and  a  third  at  the  street- 


*  As  in  Derby,  the  charge  is  blasphemy,  under  the 
Act  of  1648.  The  report,  spoken  of  later,  that  he 
would  be  put  to  death,  was  not  mere  rumor,  for  it  was  a 
real  possibility  under  this  Act. 


190         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


door;  and  they  would  let  none  come  at  me,  except 
one  sometimes,  to  bring  me  some  necessary  things. 

At  night,  sometimes  as  late  as  the  tenth  hour,  they 
would  bring  up  priests  to  me,  who  were  exceeding 
rude  and  devilish.  There  were  a  company  of  bitter 
Scotch  priests,  Presbyterians,  made  up  of  envy  and 
malice,  who  were  not  fit  to  speak  of  the  things  of 
God,  they  were  so  foul-mouthed.  But  the  Lord,  by 
His  power,  gave  me  dominion  over  them  all,  and  I 
let  them  see  both  their  fruits  and  their  spirits.  Great 
ladies  also  (as  they  were  called)  came  to  see  tne  man 
that  they  said  was  to  die.  While  the  judge,  justices, 
and  sheriff  were  contriving  together  how  they  might 
put  me  to  death,  the  Lord  disappointed  their  design 
by  an  unexpected  way.' 

The  next  day,  after  the  judges  were  gone  out  of 
town,  an  order  was  sent  to  the  jailer  to  put  me  down 
into  the  prison  amongst  the  moss-troopers,*  thieves, 
and  murderers;  which  accordingly  he  did.  A  filthy, 
nasty  place  it  was,  where  men  and  women  were  put 
together  in  a  very  uncivil  manner,  and  never  a  house 
of  office  to  it;  and  the  prisoners  were  so  lousy  that 
one  woman  was  almost  eaten  to  death  with  lice.  Yet 

*  A  kind  of  freebooter. 


'  Justice  Anthony  Pearson  pointed  out  to  the 
judges  of  the  Carlisle  courts  that  there  was  no  evidence 
to  support  the  charges  against  the  prisoner,  and  that 
he  was  illegally  held.  He  was  finally  dismissed  without 
formal  trial.  The  release  of  Fox  was,  however,  has- 
tened by  an  urgent  letter  from  Parliament  (the  famous 
Barebones  Parliament),  requesting  that  he  be  set  free. 


In  Prison  Again. 


191 


bad  as  the  place  was,  the  prisoners  were  all  made 
very  loving  and  subject  to  me,  and  some  of  them 
were  convinced  of  the  Truth,  as  the  publicans  and 
harlots  were  of  old;  so  that  they  were  able  to  con- 
found any  priest  that  might  come  to  the  grates  to 
dispute. 

But  the  jailer  was  cruel,  and  the  under-jailer  very 
abusive  both  to  me  and  to  Friends  that  came  to  see 
me;  for  he  would  beat  with  a  great  cudgel  Friends 
who  did  but  come  to  the  window  to  look  in  upon  me. 
I  could  get  up  to  the  grate,  where  sometimes  I  took 
in  my  meat;  at  which  the  jailer  was  often  offended. 
Once  he  came  in  a  great  rage  and  beat  me  with  his 
cudgel,  though  I  was  not  at  the  grate  at  that  time; 
and  as  he  beat  me,  he  cried,  "  Come  out  of  the  win- 
dow," though  I  was  then  far  from  it.  While  he 
struck  me,  I  was  moved  in  the  Lord's  power  to  sing, 
which  made  him  rage  the  more.  Then  he  fetched  a 
fiddler,  and  set  him  to  play,  thinking  to  vex  me.  But 
while  he  played,  I  was  moved  in  the  everlasting 
power  of  the  Lord  God  to  sing;  and  my  voice 
drowned  the  noise  of  the  fiddle,  struck  and  con- 
founded them,  and  made  them  give  over  fiddling  and 
go  their  way. 

Whilst  I  was  in  prison  at  Carlisle,  James  Pamell, 
a  little  lad  about  sixteen  years  of  age,  came  to  see 
me,  and  was  convinced.  The  Lord  quickly  made  him 
a  powerful  minister  of  the  Word  of  life,  and  many 
were  turned  to  Christ  by  him,  though  he  lived  not 
long.  For,  travelling  into  Essex  in  the  work  of  the 
ministry,  in  the  year  1655,  he  was  committed  to  Col- 
chester castle,  where  he  endured  very  great  hard- 


192         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

ships  and  sufferings.  He  was  put  by  the  cruel  jailer 
into  a  hole  in  the  castle  wall,  called  the  oven,  so  high 
from  the  ground  that  he  went  up  to  it  by  a  ladder, 
which  being  six  feet  too  short,  he  was  obliged  to 
climb  from  the  ladder  to  the  hole  by  a  rope  that  was 
fastened  above.  When  Friends  would  have  given 
him  a  cord  and  a  basket  in  which  to  draw  up  his 
victuals,  the  inhuman  jailer  would  not  suffer 
them,  but  forced  him  to  go  down  and  up  by  that 
short  ladder  and  rope  to  fetch  his  victuals,  which  for 
a  long  time  he  did,  or  else  he  might  have  famished  in 
the  hole. 

At  length  his  limbs  became  much  benumbed  with 
lying  in  that  place ;  yet  being  still  obliged  to  go  down 
to  take  up  some  victuals,  as  he  came  up  the  ladder 
again  with  his  victuals  in  one  hand,  and  caught  at  the 
rope  with  the  other,  he  missed  the  rope,  and  fell  down 
from  a  very  great  height  upon  the  stones;  by  which 
fall  he  was  so  wounded  in  the  head,  arms,  and  body, 
that  he  died  a  short  time  after.* 

While  I  thus  lay  in  the  dungeon  at  Carlisle,  tho 
report  raised  at  the  time  of  the  assize  that  I  should 
be  put  to  death  was  gone  far  and  near;  insomuch  that 
the  Parliament  then  sitting,  which,  I  think,  was 
called  the  Little  Parliament,  hearing  that  a  young 


*  This  is  one  of  the  saddest  stories  in  the  annals  of 
Quaker  martyrology.  James  Parnell  was  well  trained 
mentally,  and  held  successful  discussions  with  the  Cam- 
bridge students.  The  dungeon  in  Colchester  Castle, 
where  this  brief  holy  life  came  to  an  end,  is  still  visited 
by  tourists. 


In  Prison  Again. 


193 


man  at  Carlisle  was  to  die  for  religion,  caused  a  letter 
to  be  sent  the  sheriff  and  magistrates  concerning  me. 

JTot  long  after  this  the  Lord's  power  came  over 
the  justices,  and  they  were  made  to  set  me  at  liberty. 
But  some  time  previous  the  governor  and  Anthony 
Pearson  came  down  into  the  dungeon,  to  see  the 
place  where  I  Avas  kept  and  understand  what  usage  I 
had  had.  They  found  the  place  so  bad  and  the  savour 
so  ill,  that  they  cried  shame  on  the  magistrates  for 
suffering  the  jailer  to  do  such  things.  They  called 
for  the  jailers  into  the  dungeon,  and  required  them 
to  find  sureties  for  their  good  behaviour;  and  the 
under-jailer,  who  had  been  such  a  cruel  fellow,  they 
put  into  the  dungeon  with  me,  amongst  the  moss- 
troopers. 

Now  I  went  into  the  country,  and  had  mighty 
great  meetings.  The  everlasting  gospel  and  Word 
of  life  flourished,  and  thousands  were  turned  to  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  to  His  teaching. 

The  priests  and  magistrates  were  in  a  great  rage 
against  me  in  Westmoreland,  and  had  a  warrant  to 
apprehend  me,  which  they  renewed  from  time  to 
time,  for  a  long  time;  yet  the  Lord  did  not  suffer 
them  to  serve  it  upon  me.  I  travelled  on  amongst 
Friends,  visiting  the  meetings  till  I  came  to  Swarth- 
more,  where  I  heard  that  the  Baptists  and  professors 
in  Scotland  had  sent  to  have  a  dispute  with  me.  I 
sent  them  word  that  I  would  meet  them  in  Cumber- 
land, at  Thomas  Bewley's  house,  whither  accordingly 
I  went,  but  none  of  them  came. 

Some  dangers  at  this  time  I  underwent  in  my 
travels;  for  at  one  time,  as  we  were  passing  from  a 


194         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

meeting,  and  going  through  Wigton  on  a  market-day, 
the  people  of  the  town  had  set  a  guard  with  pitch- 
forks; and  although  some  of  their  own  neighbours 
were  with  us,  they  kept  us  out  of  the  town,  and 
would  not  let  us  pass  through  it,  imder  the  pretence 
of  preventing  the  sickness ;  though  there  was  no  occa- 
sion for  any  such  thing.  However,  they  fell  upon  us, 
and  had  like  to  have  spoiled  us  and  our  horses;  but 
the  Lord  restrained  them,  that  they  did  not  much 
hurt;  and  we  passed  away. 

Another  time,  as  I  was  passing  between  two 
Friends'  houses,  some  rude  fellows  lay  in  wait  in  a 
lane,  and  exceedingly  stoned  and  abused  us;  but  at 
last,  through  the  Lord's  assistance,  we  got  through 
them,  and  had  not  much  hurt.  But  this  showed  the 
fruits  of  the  priest's  teaching,  which  shamed  their 
profession  of  Christianity. 

After  I  had  visited  Friends  in  that  county,  I  went 
through  the  county  into  Durham,  having  large  meet- 
ings by  the  way.  A  very  large  one  I  had  at  Anthony 
Pearson's,  where  many  were  convinced.  From 
thence  I  passed  through  ^Northumberland  to  Der- 
wentwater,  where  there  were  great  meetings ;  and  the 
priests  threatened  that  they  would  come,  but  none 
came.  The  everlasting  Word  of  life  was  freely 
preached,  and  freely  received;  and  many  hundreds 
were  turned  to  Christ,  their  teacher. 

In  Northumberland  many  came  to  dispute,  of 
whom  some  pleaded  against  perfection.  Unto  these  I 
declared  that  Adam  and  Eve  were  perfect  before 
they  fell;  that  all  that  God  made  was  perfect;  that 
the  imperfection  came  by  the  devil,  and  the  fall;  but 


In  Prison  Again. 


195 


that  Christ,  who  came  to  destroy  the  devil,  said, 
"  Be  ye  perfect." 

One  of  the  professors  alleged  that  Job  said,  "  Shall 
mortal  man  be  more  pure  than  his  Maker?  The 
heavens  are  not  clean  in  His  sight.  God  charged  His 
angels  with  folly."  But  I  showed  him  his  mistake, 
and  let  him  see  that  it  was  not  Job  that  said  so,  but 
one  of  those  that  contended  against  Job;  for  Job 
stood  for  perfection,  and  held  his  integrity;  and  they 
were  called  miserable  comforters. 

Then  these  professors  said  that  the  outward  body 
was  the  body  of  death  and  sin,  I  showed  them  their 
mistake  in  that  also;  for  Adam  and  Eve  had  each  of 
them  an  outward  body,  before  the  body  of  death  and 
sin  got  into  them;  and  that  man  and  woman  will  have 
bodies  when  the  body  of  sin  and  death  is  put  off 
again;  when  they  are  renewed  again  into  the  image 
of  God  by  Christ  Jesus,  in  which  they  were  before 
they  fell.  So  they  ceased  at  that  time  from  opposing 
further;  and  glorious  meetings  we  had  in  the  Lord's 
power. 

Then  passed  we  to  Hexam,  where  we  had  a  great 
meeting  on  top  of  a  hill.  The  priest  threatened  that 
he  would  come  and  oppose  us,  but  he  came  not;  so 
all  was  quiet.  And  the  everlasting  day  and  renowned 
Truth  of  the  everliving  God  was  sounded  over  those 
dark  countries,  and  His  Son  exalted  over  all.  It  was 
proclaimed  amongst  the  people  that  the  day  was  now 
come  wherein  all  that  made  a  profession  of  the  Son 
of  God  might  receive  Him;  and  that  to  as  many  as 
would  receive  Him  He  would  give  power  to  become 
the  sons  of  God,  as  He  had  done  to  me. 


196         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

It  was  further  declared  that  he  who  had  the  Son 
of  God,  had  life  eternal;  but  he  that  had  not  the  Son 
of  God,  though  he  professed  all  the  Scriptures  from 
the  first  of  Genesis  to  the  last  of  the  Revelation,  had 
no  life. 

So  after  all  were  directed  to  the  light  of  Christ,  by 
which  they  might  see  Ilim,  receive  Ilim,  and  know 
where  their  true  teacher  was,  and  the  everlasting 
Truth  had  been  largely  declared  amongst  them,  we 
passed  through  Hexam  peaceably,  and  came  into 
Gilsland,  a  country  noted  for  thieving. 

The  next  day  we  came  into  Ctimberland  again, 
where  we  had  a  general  meeting  of  thousands  of  peo- 
ple on  top  of  an  hill  near  Langlands.  A  glorious  and 
heavenly  meeting  it  was;  for  the  glory  of  the  Lord 
did  shine  over  all;  and  there  were  as  many  as  one 
could  well  speak  over,*  the  multitude  was  so  great. 
Their  eyes  were  turned  to  Christ,  their  teacher;  and 
they  came  to  sit  under  their  own  vine;  insomuch  that 
Francis  Howgill,  coming  afterwards  to  visit  them, 
found  they  had  no  need  of  words;  for  they  were  sit- 
ting under  their  teacher  Christ  Jesus;  in  the  sense 
whereof  He  sat  down  amongst  them,  without  speak- 
ing anything. 

A  great  convincement  there  was  in  Cumberland, 
Bislioprick,  JsTorthumberland,  Westmoreland,  Lan- 
cashire, and  Yorkshire;  and  the  plants  of  God  grew 
and  flourished,  the  heavenly  rain  descending,  and 
God's  glory  shining  upon  them.  Many  mouths  were 
opened  by  the  Lord  to  Jlis  praise;  yea,  to  babes  and 
sucklings  he  ordained  strength. 

*  That  is,  reach  with  the  voice. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


^  Vmt  to  Mihtx  Cromhjcll 

1653-1654. 

About  this  time  the  priests  and  professors  fell  to 
prophesying  against  us  afresh.  They  had  said  long 
before  that  we  should  be  destroyed  within  a  month; 
and  after  that,  they  prolonged  the  time  to  half  a 
year.  But  that  time  being  long  expired,  and  we 
mightily  increased  in  number,  they  now  gave  forth 
that  we  would  cat  out  one  another.  For  often  after 
meetings  many  tender  people,  having  a  great  way  to 
go,  tarried  at  Friends'  houses  by  the  way,  and  some- 
times more  than  there  were  beds  to  lodge  in;  so  that 
some  lay  on  the  hay-mows.  Hereupon  Cain's  fear 
possessed  the  professors  and  world's  people ;  for  they 
were  afraid  that  when  we  had  eaten  one  another  out, 
we  should  all  come  to  be  maintained  by  the  parishes, 
and  be  chargeable  to  them. 

But  after  awhile,  when  they  saw  that  the  Lord 
blessed  and  increased  Friends,  as  he  did  Abraham, 
both  in  the  field  and  in  the  basket,  at  their  goings 
forth  and  their  comings  in,  at  their  risings  up  and 
their  lyings  down,  and  that  all  things  prospered  with 
them;  then  they  saw  the  falseness  of  all  their  proph- 
ecies against  \\s,  and  that  it  was  in  vain  to  curse  whom 
God  had  blessed. 

At  the  first  convincement,  when  Friends  could  not 
put  ofF  their  hats  to  people,  or  say  You  to  a  single 


198         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

person,  but  Thou  and  Thee; — when  they  could  not 
bow,  or  use  flattering  words  in  salutation,  or  adopt 
the  fashions  and  customs  of  the  world,  many  Friends, 
that  were  tradesmen  of  several  sorts,  lost  their  cus- 
tomers at  first,  for  the  people  were  shy  of  them,  and 
would  not  trade  with  them;  so  that  for  a  time  some 
Friends  could  hardly  get  money  enough  to  buy 
bread. 

7  But  afterwards,  when  people  came  to  have  expe- 
rience of  Friends'  honesty  and  faithfulness,  and 
found  that  their  yea  was  yea,  and  their  nay  was  nay; 
that  they  kept  to  a  word  in  their  dealings,  and  would 
not  cozen  and  cheat,  but  that  if  a  child  were  sent  to 
their  shops  for  anything,  he  was  as  well  used  as  his 
parents  would  have  been; — then  the  lives  and  con- 
versation of  Friends  did  preach,  and  reached  to  the 
witness  of  God  in  the  people. 

Then  things  altered  so,  that  all  the  inquiry  was, 
"  Where  is  there  a  draper,  or  shop-keeper,  or  tailor, 
or  shoemaker,  or  any  other  tradesman,  that  is  a 
Quaker  ?  "  Insomuch  that  Friends  had  more  trade 
than  many  of  their  neighbours,  and  if  there  was  any 
trading,  they  had  a  great  part  of  it.  Then  the  envi- 
ous professors  altered  their  note,  and  began  to  cry 
out,  "  If  we  let  these  Quakers  alone,  they  will  take 
the  trade  of  the  nation  out  of  our  hands."  ^ 


^  This  record  of  the  effect  of  Quaker  honesty  is  sup- 
ported by  impartial  contemporary  testimony.  A 
curious  confirmation  of  the  business  successes  of  the 
Quaker  traders  is  found  in  a  satiric  ballad  of  the  times, 
called  "  Wickham  Wakened;  or,  the  Quakers  Madrigall 


A  Visit  to  Oliver  Cromwell.  1S9 

This  has  been  the  Lord's  doing  to  and  for  His  peo- 
ple !  which  my  desire  is  that  all  who  profess  His  holy 
truth  may  be  kept  truly  sensible  of,  and  that  all  may 
be  preserved  in  and  by  His  power  and  Spirit,  faith- 
ful to  God  and  man.  Faithful  first  to  God,  in  obey- 
ing Him  in  all  things;  and  next  in  doing  unto  all 
men  that  which  is  just  and  righteous  in  all  things, 
that  the  Lord  God  may  be  glorified  in  their  prac- 
tising truth,  holiness,  godliness,  and  righteousness 
amongst  people  in  all  their  lives  and  conversation. 

While  Friends  abode  in  the  northern  parts,  a  priest 
of  "Wrexham,  in  Wales,  named  Morgan  Floyd,  hav- 
ing heard  reports  concerning  us,  sent  two  of  his  con- 
gregation into  the  north  to  inquire  concerning  us,  to 
try  us,  and  bring  him  an  account  of  ns.  When  these 
triers  came  amongst  us,  the  power  of  the  Lord  seized 
on  them,  and  they  were  both  convinced  of  the  truth. 
So  they  stayed  some  time  with  us,  and  then  returned 
to  Wales;  where  afterwards  one  of  them  departed 
from  his  convincement ;  but  the  other,  named  John- 
ap-John,  abode  in  the  truth,  and  received  a  part  in 
the  ministry,  in  which  he  continued  faithful." 


in  Rime  Dogerell,"  published  in  Ebsworth's  "  Choyce 
Drollery."  The  Rhymster  tells  how  the  Quaker  is  set- 
tling down  to  "  great  thrift,"  his  period  of  "  tipling 
being  done,"  i.e.,  his  days  of  ranting  being  over,  and 
those  who  come  into  competition  with  him  wish  him 
back  in  the  ranting  stage. 

"O  be  drunk  again,  Quaker, 
Take  thy  canniken  and  shake  her. 
For  thou  art  the  worse  for  thy  mending." 

*  This  was  the  beginning  of  the  movement  in  Wales. 


200         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


About  this  time  the  oath  or  engagement  to  Oliver 
Cromwell  was  tendered  to  the  soldiers,  many  of 
whom  were  disbanded  because,  in  obedience  to 
Christ,  they  could  not  swear.^  John  Stubbs,  for  one, 
who  was  convinced  when  I  was  in  Carlisle  prison, 
became  a  good  soldier  in  the  Lamb's  war,  and  a  faith- 
ful minister  of  Christ  Jesus;  travelling  much  in  the 
service  of  the  Lord  in  Holland,  Ireland,  Scotland, 
Italy,  Egypt,  and  America.  And  the  Lord's  power 
preserved  him  from  the  hands  of  the  papists,  though 
many  times  he  was  in  great  danger  of  the  Inquisition. 
But  some  of  the  soldiers,  who  had  been  convinced  in 
their  judgment,  but  had  not  come  into  obedience  to 
the  Truth,  took  Oliver  Cromwell's  oath;  and,  going 
afterwards  into  Scotland,  and  coming  before  a  gar- 
rison there,  the  garrison,  thinking  they  had  been 
enemies,  fired  at  them,  and  killed  divers  of  them, 
which  was  a  sad  event. 

When  the  churches  were  settled  in  the  north,  and 
Friends  were  established  under  Christ's  teaching,  and 
the  glory  of  the  Lord  shined  over  them,  I  passed 
from  Swarthmore  to  Lancaster  about  the  beginning 
of  the  year  1654,  visiting  Friends,  till  I  came  to 
Synder-hill  green,  where  a  meeting  had  been  ap- 
pointed three  weeks  before.  We  passed  through 
Halifax,  a  rude  town  of  professors,  and  came  to 
Thomas  Taylor's,  who  had  been  a  captain,  where  we 


In  1657,  George  Fox  travelled  and  laboured  extensively 
in  Wales,  where  many  followers  were  gathered. 

'  Nothing  caused  Friends  so  much  trouble  as  their 
absolute  refusal  to  take  any  kind  of  an  oath. 


A  Visit  to  Oliver  Cromwell.  201 


met  with  some  janglers;*  but  the  Lord's  power  was 
over  all;  for  I  travelled  in  the  motion  of  God's 
power. 

When  I  came  to  Synder-hill  green,  there  was  a 
mighty  meeting.  Some  thousands  of  people,  as  it 
was  judged,  were  there,  and  many  persons  of  note, 
captains  and  other  officers.  There  was  a  general  con- 
vincement;  for  the  Lord's  power  and  Truth  was  set 
over  all,  and  there  was  no  opposition. 

About  this  time  did  the  Lord  move  upon  the 
spirits  of  many  whom  He  had  raised  up  and  sent 
forth  to  labour  in  His  vineyard,  to  travel  southwards, 
and  spread  themselves  in  the  service  of  the  gospel  to 
the  eastern,  southern,  and  western  parts  of  the 
nation.  Francis  Howgill  and  Edward  Burrough 
went  to  London;  John  Camm  and  John  Audland  to 
Bristol;  Richard  Hubberthorn  and  George  White- 
head towards  I*^^orwich;  Thomas  Holmes  into  Wales; 
and  many  others  different  ways:  for  above  sixty 
ministers  had  the  Lord  raised  up,  and  did  now  send 
abroad  out  of  the  north  coimtry.  The  sense  of  their 
service  was  very  weighty  upon  me.* 

About  this  time  Rice  Jones,  of  N^ottingham,  (who 
had  been  a  Baptist,  and  was  turned  Ranter),  and  his 

*  Ranters. 


*  At  the  end  of  six  years  of  ministry  these  sixty  min- 
isters had  been  gathered  to  the  work  which  now 
absorbed  George  Fox.  It  was  a  remarkable  group  of 
men, — young,  vigorous,  ready  speakers,  eager  for  the 
hard  service,  welcoming  persecution  and  undaunted  by 
any  dangers  or  difficulties.   They  so  completely  caught 


202         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


company,  began  to  prophesy  against  me;  giving  out 
that  I  was  then  at  the  highest,  and  that  after  that 
time  I  should  fall  down  as  fast.  He  sent  a  bundle  of 
railing  papers  from  Nottingham  to  Mansfield,  Claw- 
son,  and  the  towns  thereabouts,  judging  Friends  for 
declaring  the  Truth  in  the  markets  and  in  steeple- 
houses;  which  papers  I  answered.  But  his  and  his 
company's  prophecies  came  upon  themselves;  for 
soon  after  they  fell  to  pieces,  and  many  of  his  fol- 
lowers became  Friends,  and  continued  so. 

And  through  the  Lord's  blessed  power.  Truth  and 
Friends  have  increased,  and  do  increase  in  the  in- 
crease of  God :  and  I,  by  the  same  power,  have  been 
and  am  preserved,  and  kept  in  the  everlasting  Seed, 
that  never  fell,  nor  changes.  But  Rice  Jones  took 
the  oaths  that  were  put  to  him,  and  so  disobeyed  the 
command  of  Christ. 

Many  such  false  prophets  have  risen  up  against 
me,  but  the  Lord  hath  blasted  them,  and  will  blast  all 


the  idea  of  Fox  that  they  practically  all  spoke  the  same 
religious  language. 

To  them  George  Fox  addressed  a  quaint,  but  strik- 
ingly spiritual,  epistle  of  advice  as  they  went  out  to 
begin  their  labours.   Here  are  a  few  sentences  from  it: 

"  All  Friends  everywhere,  Know  the  Seed  of  God, 
which  bruiseth  the  seed  of  the  serpent,  and  is  atop  of 
the  seed  of  the  serpent:  which  Seed  sins  not,  but  bruis- 
eth the  serpent's  head  that  doth  sin,  and  that  tempts  to 
sin:  to  which  Seed  is  God's  promise  and  blessing;  and 
which  Seed  is  one  in  the  male  and  in  the  female.  .  . 

"  This  is  the  Word  of  the  Lord  to  you  all:  Every  one 


A  Visit  to  Oliver  Cromwell. 


203 


who  rise  against  the  blessed  Seed,  and  me  in  that. 
My  confidence  is  in  the  Lord;  for  I  saw  their  end,  and 
how  the  Lord  would  confound  them,  before  He  sent 
me  forth. 

I  travelled  up  and  down  in  Yorkshire,  as  far  as 
Holderncss,  and  to  the  land's  end  that  way,  visiting 
Friends  and  the  churches  of  Christ;  which  were 
finely  settled  under  Christ's  teaching.  At  length  I 
came  to  Captain  Bradford's  house,  whither  came 
many  Ranters  from  York  to  wrangle;  but  they  were 
confounded  and  stopped.  Thither  came  also  she  who 
was  called  the  Lady  Montague,  who  was  then  con- 
vinced, and  lived  and  died  in  the  Truth. 

Thence  I  went  to  Drayton  in  Leicestershire  to 
visit  my  relations.  As  soon  as  I  was  come  in,  Na- 
thaniel Stephens,  the  priest,  having  got  another 
priest,  and  given  notice  to  the  country,  sent  to  me  to 
come  to  them,  for  they  could  not  do  anything  till  I 
came.   Having  been  three  years  away  from  my  rela- 


in  the  measure  of  life  wait,  that  with  it  all  your  minds 
may  be  guided  up  to  the  Father  of  life,  the  Father  of 
spirits:  to  receive  power  from  Him,  and  wisdom,  that 
with  it  you  may  be  ordered  to  His  glory:  to  whom  be 
all  glory  forever!  All  keep  in  the  Light  and  Life,  that 
judgeth  down  that  which  is  contrary  to  the  Light  and 
Life.  So  the  Lord  God  Almighty  be  with  you  all.  .  .  , 
"  All  P'riends  that  speak  in  public,  see  that  it  be  in 
the  life  of  God;  for  that  begets  to  God;  the  fruits  of 
that  shall  never  wither.  This  sows  to  the  Spirit  which 
is  in  prison,  and  of  the  Spirit  reaps  life;  and  the  other 
sows  to  the  flesh,  and  of  the  flesh  reaps  corruption 


204         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

tions,  I  knew  nothing  of  their  design.  But  at  last  I 
went  into  the  steeple-house  yard,  where  the  two 
priests  were;  and  they  had  gathered  abundance  of 
people. 

When  I  came  there,  they  would  have  had  me  go 
into  the  steeple-house.  I  asked  them  what  I  should 
do  there;  and  they  said  that  Mr.  Stephens  could  not 
bear  the  cold.  I  told  them  he  might  bear  it  as  well 
as  I.  At  last  we  went  into  a  great  hall,  Richard 
Farnsworth  being  with  me;  and  a  great  dispute  we 
had  with  these  priests  concerning  their  practices,  how 
contrary  they  were  to  Christ  and  His  apostles. 

The  priests  would  know  where  tithes  were  for- 
bidden or  ended.  I  showed  them  out  of  the  seventh 
chapter  to  the  Hebrews  that  not  only  tithes,  but  the 
priesthood  that  took  tithes,  was  ended;  and  the  law 
by  which  the  priesthood  was  made,  and  tithes  were 
commanded  to  be  paid,  was  ended  and  annulled. 
Then  the  priests  stirred  up  the  people  to  some  light- 
ness and  rudeness. 


This  you  may  see  all  the  world  over  amongst  these 
seeds-men, — that  which  may  be  reaped  in  the  field,  that 
is  the  world.  Therefore  wait  in  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord, 
which  cuts  down  and  casts  out  all  this,  the  root  and 
branches  of  it.  So  in  that  wait  to  receive  power,  and 
the  Lord  God  Almighty  preserve  you  in  it;  whereby 
you  may  come  to  feel  the  Light,  that  comprehends  time 
and  the  world,  and  fathoms  it:  which,  believed  in,  gives 
you  victory  over  the  world.  Here  the  power  of  the 
Lord  is  received,  which  subdues  all  the  contrary,  and 
puts  off  the  garments  that  will  stain  and  pollute." 


A  Visit  to  Oliver  Cromwell. 


205 


I  had  known  Stephens  from  a  child,  therefore  I 
Jaid  open  his  condition,  and  the  manner  of  his  preach- 
ing; and  how  he,  like  the  rest  of  the  priests,  did 
apply  the  promises  to  the  first  birth,  which  must  die. 
But  I  showed  that  the  promises  were  to  the  Seed, 
not  to  many  seeds,  but  to  one  Seed,  Christ ;  who  was 
one  in  male  and  female;  for  all  were  to  be  born  again 
before  they  could  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God. 

Then  he  said,  I  must  not  judge  so;  but  I  told  him 
that  He  that  was  spiritual  judged  all  things.  Then 
he  confessed  that  that  was  a  full  Scripture ;  "  but, 
neighbours,"  said  he,  "  this  is  the  business;  George 
Fox  is  come  to  the  light  of  the  sun,  and  now  he  thinks 
to  put  out  my  star-light." 

I  told  him  that  I  would  not  quench  the  least  meas- 
ure of  God  in  any,  much  less  put  out  his  star-light,  if 
it  were  true  star-light — light  from  the  Morning  Star. 
But,  I  told  him,  if  he  had  anything  from  Christ  or 
God,  he  ought  to  speak  it  freely,  and  not  take  tithes 
from  the  people  for  preaching,  seeing  that  Christ 
commanded  His  ministers  to  give  freely,  as  they  had 
received  freely.  So  I  charged  him  to  preach  no  more 
for  tithes  or  any  liire.  But  he  said  he  would  not 
yield  to  that. 

After  a  while  the  people  began  to  be  vain  and 
rude,  so  we  broke  up;  yet  some  were  made  loving  to 
the  Truth  that  day.  Before  we  parted  I  told  them 
that  if  the  Lord  would,  I  intended  to  be  at  the  town 
again  that  day  week.  In  the  interim  I  went  into  the 
country,  and  had  meetings,  and  came  thither  again 
that  day  week. 

Against  that  time  this  priest  had  got  seven  priests 


206         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

to  help  him;  for  priest  Stephens  had  given  notice  at 
a  lecture  on  a  market-day  at  Adderston,  that  such  a 
day  there  would  be  a  meeting  and  a  dispute  with  me, 
I  knew  nothing  of  it;  but  had  only  said  I  should  be 
in  town  that  day  week  again.  These  eight  priests 
had  gathered  several  hundreds  of  people,  even  most 
of  the  country  thereabouts,  and  they  would  have  had 
me  go  into  the  steeple-house;  but  I  would  not  go  in, 
but  got  on  a  hill,  and  there  spoke  to  them  and  the 
people. 

There  were  with  me  Thomas  Taylor,  who  had  been 
a  priest,  James  Parnell,  and  several  other  Friends. 
The  priests  thought  that  day  to  trample  down  Truth; 
but  the  Truth  overcame  them.  Then  they  grew  light, 
and  the  people  rude;  and  the  priests  would  not  stand 
trial  with  me;  but  would  be  contending  here  a  little 
and  there  a  little,  with  one  Friend  or  another.  At 
last  one  of  the  priests  brought  his  son  to  dispute  with 
me ;  but  his  mouth  was  soon  stopped.  When  he  could 
not  tell  how  to  answer,  he  would  ask  his  father; 
and  his  father  was  confounded  also,  when  he  came  to 
answer  for  his  son. 

So,  after  they  had  toiled  themselves,  they  went 
away  in  a  rage  to  priest  Stephens's  house  to  drink. 
As  they  went  away,  I  said,  "  I  never  came  to  a  place 
where  so  many  priests  together  would  not  stand  the 
trial  with  me."  Thereupon  they  and  some  of  their 
wives  came  about  me,  laid  hold  of  me,  and  fawningly 
said,  "  What  might  you  not  have  been,  if  it  had  not 
been  for  the  Quakers !  " 

Then  they  began  to  push  Friends  to  and  fro,  to 
thrust  them  from  me,  and  to  pluck  me  to  themselves. 


A  Visii  to  Ol%ier  (Jfomwell.  207 

After  a  while  several  lusty  fellows  came,  took  me  up 
in  their  arms,  and  carried  me  into  the  steeple-house 
porch,  intending  to  carry  me  into  the  steeple-house 
by  force ;  but  the  door  being  locked  they  fell  down  in 
a  heap,  having  me  under  them.  As  soon  as  I  could,  I 
got  up  from  under  them,  and  went  to  the  hill  again. 
Then  they  took  me  from  that  place  to  the  steeple- 
house  wall,  and  set  me  on  something  like  a  stool;  and 
all  the  priests  being  come  back,  stood  under  with  the 
people. 

The  priests  cried,  Come,  to  argument,  to  argu- 
ment." I  said  that  I  denied  all  their  voices,  for  they 
were  the  voices  of  hirelings  and  strangers.  They 
cried,  "  Prove  it,  prove  it."  Then  I  directed  them  to 
the  tenth  of  John,  where  they  might  see  what  Christ 
said  of  such.  He  declared  that  He  was  the  true  Shep- 
herd that  laid  down  His  life  for  His  sheep,  and  His 
sheep  heard  His  voice  and  followed  Him;  but  the 
hireling  would  fly  when  the  wolf  came,  because  he 
was  a  hireling.  I  offered  to  prove  that  they  were 
such  hirelings.  Then  the  priests  plucked  me  off  the 
stool  again;  and  they  themselves  got  all  upon  stools 
under  the  steeple-house  wall. 

Then  I  felt  the  mighty  power  of  God  arise  over 
all,  and  I  told  them  that  if  they  would  but  give  audi- 
ence, and  hear  me  quietly,  I  would  show  them  by  the 
Scriptures  why  I  denied  those  eight  priests,  or  teach- 
ers, that  stood  before  me,  and  all  the  hireling 
teachers  of  the  world  whatsoever;  and  I  would  give 
them  Scriptures  for  what  I  said.  Whereupon  both 
priests  and  people  consented.  Then  I  showed  them 
out  of  the  prophets  Isaiah,  Jeremiah,  Ezckiel,  Micah, 


208         George  Fox:  Aft  Aixtobiography. 

Malachi,  and  others,  that  they  were  in  the  stops  of 
such  as  God  sent  His  true  prophets  to  cry  against. 

When  I  appealed  to  that  of  God  in  their  con- 
sciences, the  Light  of  Christ  Jesus  in  them,  they 
could  not  abide  to  hear  it.  They  had  been  all  quiet 
before;  but  then  a  professor  said,  "George,  what! 
wilt  thou  never  have  done  ? "  I  told  him  I  should 
have  done  shortly.  I  went  on  a  little  longer,  and 
cleared  myself  of  them  in  the  Lord's  power.  When 
I  had  done,  all  the  priests  and  people  stood  silent  for 
a  time. 

At  last  one  of  the  priests  said  that  they  would  read 
the  Scriptures  I  had  quoted.  I  told  them  I  desired 
them  to  do  so  with  all  my  heart.  They  began  to  read 
the  twenty-third  of  Jeremiah,  where  they  saw  the 
marks  of  the  false  prophets  that  he  cried  against. 
When  they  had  read  a  verse  or  two  I  said,  "Take 
notice,  people";  but  the  priests  said,  "Hold  thy 
tongue,  George."  I  bade  them  read  the  whole  chap- 
ter, for  it  was  all  against  them.  Then  they  stopped, 
and  would  read  no  further. 

My  father,  though  a  hearer  and  follower  of  the 
priest,  was  so  well  satisfied  that  he  struck  his  cane 
upon  the  ground,  and  said,  "  Truly,  I  see  that  he  that 
will  but  stand  to  the  truth,  it  will  bear  him  out."  * 

After  this  I  went  into  the  country,  had  several 
meetings,  and  came  to  Swannington,  where  the  sol- 


^  This  is  the  only  indication  of  the  extent  of  "  Eight- 
eous  Christer's "  sympathy  with  his  son's  somewhat 
revolutionary  message. 


A  Visit  to  Oliver  Cromwell.  209 


diers  came;  but  the  meeting  was  quiet,  the  Lord's 
power  was  over  all,  and  the  soldiers  did  not  meddle. 

Then  I  went  to  Leicester;  and  from  Leicester  to 
Whetstone.  There  came  about  seventeen  troopers 
of  Colonel  Hacker's  regiment,  with  his  marshal,  and 
took  me  up  before  the  meeting,  though  Friends  were 
beginning  to  gather  together;  for  there  were  several 
Friends  from  divers  parts.®  I  told  the  marshal  he 
might  let  all  the  Friends  go ;  that  I  would  answer  for 
them  all.  Thereupon  he  took  me,  and  let  all  the 
Friends  go ;  only  Alexander  Parker  went  along  with 
me. 

At  night  they  had  me  before  Colonel  Hacker,  his 
major,  and  captains,  a  great  company  of  them;  and 
a  great  deal  of  discourse  we  had  about  the  priests, 
and  about  meetings;  for  at  this  time  there  was  a  noise 
of  a  plot  against  Oliver  Cromwell.  Much  reasoning 
I  had  with  them  about  the  Light  of  Christ,  which 
enlighteneth  every  man  that  cometh  into  the  world. 
Colonel  Hacker  asked  whether  it  was  not  this  Light 
of  Christ  that  made  Judas  betray  his  Master,  and 
afterwards  led  him  to  hang  himself?  I  told  him, 
"  No ;  that  was  the  spirit  of  darkness,  wjiich  hated 
Christ  and  His  Light." 


'  Colonel  Hacker  and  his  regiment  superintended  the 
execution  of  Charles  I.,  and  held  back  the  threatening 
crowd  of  London  citizens.  He  apparently  now  sus- 
pected that  Fox  and  the  Quakers  were  in  a  plot  to  bring 
in  Charles  II.  Cromwell  had  for  about  six  months 
been  Lord  Protector.  Gerard  and  Vowel's  plot  was  dis- 
covered about  this  time. 


210         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

Then  Colonel  Hacker  said  I  might  go  home,  and 
keep  at  home,  and  not  go  abroad  to  meetings.  I  told 
him  I  was  an  innocent  man,  free  from  plots,  and 
denied  all  such  work.  His  son  Needham  said, 
"  Father,  this  man  hath  reigned  too  long;  it  is  time 
to  have  him  cut  off."  I  asked  him,  "  For  what  ? 
What  have  I  done  ?  Whom  have  I  wronged  ?  I  was 
bred  and  bom  in  this  coimtry,  and  who  can  accuse  me 
of  any  evil,  from  childhood  up?"  Colonel  Hacker 
asked  me  again  if  I  would  go  home,  and  stay  at  home. 
I  told  him  that  if  I  should  promise  him  this,  it  would 
manifest  that  I  was  guilty  of  something,  to  make  my 
home  a  prison ;  and  if  I  went  to  meetings  they  would 
say  I  broke  their  order.  Therefore  I  told  them  I 
should  go  to  meetings  as  the  Lord  should  order  me, 
and  could  not  submit  to  their  requirings;  but  I  said 
we  were  a  peaceable  people. 

"  Well,  then,"  said  Colonel  Hacker,  "  I  will  send 
you  to-morrow  morning  by  six  o'clock  to  my  Lord 
Protector,  by  Captain  Drury,  one  of  his  life-guard." 

That  night  I  was  kept  prisoner  at  the  Marshalsea; 
and  the  next  morning  by  the  sixth  hour  I  was  deliv- 
ered to  Captain  Drury.  I  desired  that  he  would  let 
me  speak  with  Colonel  Hacker  before  I  went;  and  he 
took  me  to  his  bedside.  Colonel  Hacker  again  ad- 
monished me  to  go  home,  and  keep  no  more  meetings. 
I  told  him  I  could  not  submit  to  that ;  but  must  have 
my  liberty  to  serve  God,  and  to  go  to  meetings. 
"  Then,"  said  he,  "  you  must  go  before  the  Protec- 
tor." Thereupon  I  kneeled  at  his  bedside,  and  be- 
sought the  Lord  to  forgive  him;  for  he  was  as  Pilate, 
though  he  would  wash  his  hands;  and  I  bade  him 


A  Visit  to  Oliver  Cromwell.  211 


remember,  when  the  dav  of  his  misery  and  trial 
should  come  upon  him,  what  I  had  said  to  him.  But 
lie  was  stirred  up  and  set  on  by  Stephens,^  and  the 
other  priests  and  professors,  wherein  their  envy  and 
baseness  was  manifest.  When  they  could  not  over- 
come me  by  disputes  and  arguments,  nor  resist  the 
Spirit  of  the  Lord  that  was  in  me,  they  got  soldiers 
to  take  me  up. 

Afterwards,  when  Colonel  Hacker  was  imprisoned 
in  London,  a  day  or  two  before  his  execution,  he  was 
put  in  mind  of  what  he  had  done  against  the  inno- 
cent ;  and  he  remembered  it,  and  confessed  it  to  Mar- 
garet Fell,  saying  he  knew  well  whom  she  meant ;  and 
he  had  trouble  upon  him  for  it. 

Now  I  was  carried  up  a  prisoner  by  Captain  Drury 
from  Leicester;  and  when  we  came  to  Harborough 
he  asked  me  if  I  would  go  home  and  stay  a  fortnight  ? 
I  should  have  my  liberty,  he  said,  if  I  would  not  go 
to,  nor  keep  meetings.  I  told  him  I  could  not  prom- 
ise any  such  thing.  Several  times  upon  the  road  did 
he  ask  and  try  me  after  the  same  manner,  and  still  I 
gave  him  the  same  answers.  So  he  brought  me  to 
London,  and  lodged  me  at  the  Mermaid*  over  against 
the  Mews  at  Charing-Cross. 

As  we  travelled  I  was  moved  of  the  Lord  to  warn 
people  at  the  inns  and  places  where  I  came  of  the 

*  This  was  not  the  famous  "Mermaid"  of  Shakespeare  and  Ben 
Jonson. 


^  This  is  the  minister  of  Drayton,  who  said  "  there 
was  never  such  a  plant  bred  in  England  "  as  George 
Fox. 


212         Oeorge  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

day  of  the  Lord  that  was  coming  upon  them.  Wil- 
liam Dewsbury  and  Marmaduke  Storr  being  in  prison 
at  Northampton,  Captain  Drury  let  me  go  and  visit 
them. 

After  Captain  Drury  had  lodged  me  at  the  Mer- 
maid, he  left  me  there,  and  went  to  give  the  Protec- 
tor an  account  of  me.  When  he  came  to  me  again, 
he  told  me  that  the  Protector  required  that  I  should 
promise  not  to  take  up  a  carnal  sword  or  weapon 
against  him  or  the  government,  as  it  then  was,  and 
that  I  should  write  it  in  what  words  I  saw  good,  and 
set  my  hand  to  it.  I  said  little  in  reply  to  Captain 
Drury. 

The  next  morning  I  was  moved  of  the  Lord  to 
write  a  paper  to  the  Protector,  Oliver  Cromwell; 
wherein  I  did,  in  the  presence  of  the  Lord  God,  de- 
clare that  I  denied  the  wearing  or  drawing  of  a  carnal 
sword,  or  any  other  outward  weapon,  against  him  or 
any  man;  and  that  I  was  sent  of  God  to  stand  a  wit- 
ness against  all  violence,  and  against  the  works  of 
darkness;  and  to  turn  people  from  darkness  to  light; 
and  to  bring  them  from  the  causes  of  war  and  fight- 
ing, to  the  peaceable  gospel.  When  I  had  written 
what  the  Lord  had  given  me  to  write,  I  set  my  name 
to  it,  and  gave  it  to  Captain  Drury  to  hand  to  Oliver 
Cromwell,  which  he  did. 

After  some  time  Captain  Drury  brought  me  before 
the  Protector  himself  at  Whitehall.*    It  was  in  a 


Cromwell  and  Fox  were  at  this  period  the  two  most 
striking  men  in  England.  Cromwell's  greatest  work 
was  already  done;  Fox,  now  thirty  years  old,  was  only 


A  Visit  to  Oliver  Cromwell. 


213 


morning,  before  he  was  dressed,  and  one  Harvey, 
who  had  come  a  little  among  Friends,  but  was  dis- 
obedient, waited  upon  him.  When  I  came  in  I  was 
moved  to  say,  "  Peace  be  in  this  house  " ;  and  I 
'exhorted  him  to  keep  in  the  fear  of  God,  that  he 
might  receive  wisdom  from  Him,  that  by  it  he  might 
be  directed,  and  order  all  things  under  his  hand  to 
God's  glory. 


getting  well  under  way  with  his  earthly  mission.  He 
never  comprehended  the  greatness  of  Cromwell's  work, 
nor  did  he  appreciate  the  complex  tangle  which  the 
Protector  had  to  unravel.  He  was  so  sun-clear  and  in- 
genuous himself  that  he  could  not  fathom  a  man  who 
skillfully  zigzagged  toward  the  ends  which  he  could 
not  reach  by  perfectly  direct  steps.  Carlyle  gives  a 
happy  paraphrase  of  this  passage  in  the  Journal:  " '  I 
exhorted  him,'  writes  George,  '  to  keep  in  the  fear  of 
God,'  whereby  he  might  '  receive  Wisdom  from 
God,'  which  would  be  a  useful  guidance  for  any  sov- 
ereign person.  In  fact,  I  had  '  much  discourse '  with 
him;  explaining  what  I  and  Friends  had  been  led  to 
think  '  Concerning  Christ  and  His  Apostles '  of  old 
time,  and  His  Priests  and  Ministers  of  new;  concerning 
Life  and  concerning  Death;  concerning  the  Unfathom- 
able Universe  in  general,  and  the  Light  in  it  from 
Above  and  the  Darkness  in  it  that  is  from  Below:  to 
all  which  the  Protector  '  carried  himself  with  much 
moderation.'  Yes,  George;  this  Protector  has  a  sym- 
pathy with  the  Perennial;  and  feels  it  across  the  Tem- 
porary: no  hulls,  leathern  or  other,  can  entirely  hide 
it  from  the  sense  of  him."  Carlyle's  "  Oliver  Crom- 
well's Letters  and  Speeches."  (Centenary  Edition.) 
Vol.  in.,  p.  225. 


214         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

I  spoke  much  to  him  of  Truth,  and  much  discourse 
I  had  with  him  about  religion;  wherein  he  carried 
himself  very  moderately.  But  he  said  we  quarrelled 
with  priests,  whom  he  called  ministers.  I  told  him 
I  did  not  quarrel  with  them,  but  that  they  quarrelled" 
with  me  and  my  friends.  "  But,"  said  I,  if  we  own 
the  prophets,  Christ,  and  the  apostles,  we  cannot  hold 
up  such  teachers,  prophets,  and  shepherds,  as  the 
prophets,  Christ,  and  the  apostles  declared  against; 
but  we  must  declare  against  them  by  the  same  power 
and  Spirit." 

Then  I  showed  him  that  the  prophets,  Christ,  and 
the  apostles  declared  freely,  and  against  them  that 
did  not  declare  freely;  such  as  preached  for  filthy 
lucre,  and  divined  for  money,  and  preached  for  hire, 
and  were  covetous  and  greedy,  that  could  never  have 
enough;  and  that  they  that  have  the  same  spirit  that 
Christ,  and  the  prophets,  and  the  apostles  had,  could 
not  but  declare  against  all  such  now,  as  they  did  then. 
As  I  spoke,  he  several  times  said,  it  was  very  good, 
and  it  was  truth.  I  told  him  that  all  Christendom 
(so  called)  had  the  Scriptures,  but  they  wanted  the 
power  and  Spirit  that  those  had  who  gave  forth  the 
Scriptures ;  and  that  was  the  reason  they  were  not  in 
fellowship  with  the  Son,  nor  with  the  Father,  nor 
with  the  Scriptures,  nor  one  with  another. 

Many  more  words  I  had  with  him ;  but  people  com- 
ing in,  I  drew  a  little  back.  As  I  was  turning,  he 
caught  me  by  the  hand,  and  with  tears  in  his  eyes 
said,  "  Come  again  to  my  house;  for  if  thou  and  I 
were  but  an  hour  of  a  day  together,  we  should  be 


A  Visit  to  Oliver  Cromwell. 


215 


nearer  one  to  the  other  ";  adding  that  he  wished  me 
no  more  ill  than  he  did  to  his  own  soul.  I  told  him  if 
he  did  he  wronged  his  own  soul;  and  admonished  him 
to  hearken  to  God's  voice,  that  he  might  stand  in  his 
counsel,  and  obey  it;  and  if  he  did  so,  that  would 
keep  him  from  hardness  of  heart ;  but  if  he  did  not 
hear  God's  voice,  his  heart  would  be  hardened.  He 
said  it  was  true. 

Then  I  went  out;  and  when  Captain  Drury  came 
out  after  me  he  told  me  the  Lord  Protector  had  said 
I  was  at  liberty,  and  might  go  whither  I  would. 

Then  I  was  brought  into  a  great  hall,  where  the 
Protector's  gentlemen  were  to  dine.  I  asked  them 
what  they  brought  me  thither  for.  They  said  it  was 
by  the  Protector's  order,  that  I  might  dine  with 
them.  I  bid  them  let  the  Protector  know  that  I 
would  not  eat  of  his  bread,  nor  drink  of  his  drink. 
When  he  heard  this  he  said,  "  I^ow  I  see  there  is  a 
people  risen  that  I  cannot  win  with  gifts  or  honours, 
offices  or  places;  but  all  other  sects  and  people  I 
can."  It  was  told  him  again  that  we  had  forsaken 
our  own  possessions;  and  were  not  like  to  look  for 
such  things  from  him. 

Being  set  at  liberty,  I  went  to  the  inn  where  Cap- 
tain Drury  at  first  lodged  me.  This  captain,  though 
he  sometimes  carried  it  fairly,  was  an  enemy  to  me 
and  to  Truth,  and  opposed  it.  When  professors  came 
to  me,  while  I  was  imder  his  custody,  and  he  was  by, 
he  would  scofF  at  trembling,  and  call  us  Quakers,  as 
the  Independents  and  Presbyterians  had  nicknamed 


216         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


us  before."  But  afterwards  he  came  and  told  me 
that,  as  he  was  lying  on  his  bed  to  rest  himself  in  the 
daytime,  a  sudden  trembling  seized  on  him;  that  his 
joints  knocked  together,  and  his  body  shook  so 
that  he  could  not  rise  from  his  bed.  He  was  so 
shaken  that  he  had  not  strength  enough  left  to  rise. 
But  he  felt  the  power  of  the  Lord  was  upon  him ;  and 
he  tumbled  off  his  bed,  and  cried  to  the  Lord,  and  said 
he  would  never  speak  more  against  the  Quakers,  such 
as  trembled  at  the  word  of  God. 

During  the  time  I  was  prisoner  at  Charing-Cross, 
there  came  abundance  to  see  me,  almost  of  all  sorts, 
priests,  professors,  officers  of  the  army,  etc.  Once  a 
company  of  officers,  being  with  me,  desired  me  to 
pray  with  them.  I  sat  still,  with  my  mind  retired  to 
the  Lord.  At  last  I  felt  the  power  and  Spirit  of  God 
move  in  me;  and  the  Lord's  power  did  so  shake  and 
shatter  them  that  they  wondered,  though  they  did 
not  live  in  it. 

Among  those  that  came  was  Colonel  Packer,  with 
several  of  his  officers.  While  they  were  with  me, 
there  came  in  one  Cob,  and  a  great  company  of 
Ranters  with  him.  The  Ranters  began  to  call  for 
drink  and  tobacco;  but  I  desired  them  to  forbear  it  in 
my  room,  telling  them  if  they  had  such  a  mind  to  it, 
they  might  go  into  another  room.  One  of  them  cried, 
"  All  is  ours  ";  and  another  of  them  said,  "  All  is 
well."  I  replied,  "  How  is  all  well,  while  thou  art  so 
peevish,  envious,  and  crabbed  ?  "  for  I  saw  he  was  of 

®  This  implies  that  the  nickname  was  given  because 
the  Friends  trembled  when  they  spoke. 


A  Visit  to  Oliver  Cromwell.  217 


a  peevish  nature.  I  spake  to  their  conditions,  and 
they  were  sensible  of  it,  and  looked  one  upon  an- 
other, wondering. 

Then  Colonel  Packer  began  to  talk  with  a  light, 
chaffy  mind,  concerning  God,  and  Christ,  and  the 
Scriptures.  It  was  a  great  grief  to  my  soul  and  spirit 
when  I  heard  him  talk  so  lightly;  so  that  I  told  him 
he  was  too  light  to  talk  of  the  things  of  God,  for  he 
did  not  know  the  solidity  of  a  man.  Thereupon  the 
officers  raged,  and  were  wroth  that  I  should  speak  so 
of  their  colonel. 

This  Packer  was  a  Baptist,  and  he  and  the  Ranters 
bowed  and  scraped  to  one  another  very  much;  for  it 
was  the  manner  of  the  Ranters  to  be  exceedingly 
complimentary  (as  they  call  it),  so  that  Packer  bade 
them  give  over  their  compliments.  But  I  told  them 
they  were  fit  to  go  together,  for  they  were  both  of 
one  spirit. 

This  Colonel  Packer  lived  at  Theobald's,  near 
Waltham,  and  was  made  a  justice  of  the  peace.  He 
set  up  a  great  meeting  of  the  Baptists  at  Theobald's 
Park;  for  he  and  some  other  officers  had  purchased 
it.  They  were  exceedingly  high,  and  railed  against 
Friends  and  Truth,  and  threatened  to  apprehend  me 
with  their  warrants  if  ever  I  came  there. 

Yet  after  I  was  set  at  liberty,  I  was  moved  of  the 
Lord  God  to  go  down  to  Theobald's,  and  appoint  a 
meeting  hard  by  them;  to  which  many  of  his  people 
came,  and  divers  of  his  hearers  were  convinced  of  the 
•  way  of  Truth,  and  received  Christ,  the  free  teacher, 
and  came  off  from  the  Baptist;  and  that  made  him 


218         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


rage  the  more.  But  the  Lord's  power  came  over 
him,  so  that  he  had  not  power  to  meddle  with  me. 

Then  I  went  to  Waltham,  close  by  him,  and  had  a 
meeting  there;  but  the  people  were  very  rude,  and 
gathered  about  the  house  and  broke  the  windows. 
Thereupon  I  went  out  to  them,  with  the  Bible  in  my 
hand,  and  desired  them  to  come  in;  and  told  them 
that  I  would  show  them  Scripture  both  for  our  prin- 
ciples  and  practices.  When  I  had  done  so,  I  showed 
them  also  that  their  teachers  were  in  the  steps  of 
such  as  the  prophets,  and  Christ,  and  the  apostles 
testified  against.  Then  I  directed  them  to  the  Light 
of  Christ  and  Spirit  of  God  in  their  own  hearts,  that 
by  it  they  might  come  to  know  their  free  teacher,  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

The  meeting  being  ended,  they  went  away  quieted 
and  satisfied,  and  a  meeting  hath  since  been  settled 
in  that  town.  But  this  was  some  time  after  I  was 
set  at  liberty  by  Oliver  Cromwell. 

When  I  came  from  Whitehall  to  the  Mermaid  at 
Charing-Cross,  I  stayed  not  long  there,  but  went 
into  the  city  of  London,  where  we  had  great  and 
powerful  meetings.  So  great  were  the  throngs  of 
people  that  I  could  hardly  get  to  and  from  the  meet- 
ings for  the  crowds;  and  the  Truth  spread  exceed- 
ingly. Thomas  Aldam,  and  Kobert  Craven,  who  had 
been  sherilf  of  London,  and  many  Friends,  eame  up 
to  London  after  me;  but  Alexander  Parker  abode 
with  me.^" 

During  this  same  year,  1654,  a  remarkable  work 
was  done  in  London  by  Edward  Burrough  and  Francis 


A  Yisit  to  Oliver  Cromwell.  219 


After  a  while  I  went  to  Whitehall  again,  and  was 
moved  to  declare  the  day  of  the  Lord  amongst  them, 
and  that  the  Lord  was  come  to  teach  His  people  Him- 
self. So  I  preached  Truth,  both  to  the  officers,  and 
to  them  that  were  called  Oliver's  gentlemen,  who 
were  of  his  guard.  But  a  priest  opposed  while  I  was 
declaring  the  Word  of  the  Lord  amongst  them;  for 
Oliver  had  several  priests  about  him,  of  which  this 
was  his  newsmonger,  an  envious  priest,  and  a  light, 
scornful,  chaffy  man.  I  bade  him  repent,  and  he 
put  it  in  his  newspaper  the  next  week  that  I  had  been 
at  Whitehall  and  had  bidden  a  godly  minister  there 
to  repent. 

When  I  went  thither  again  I  met  with  him;  and 
abundance  of  people  gathered  about  me.  I  mani- 
fested the  priest  to  be  a  liar  in  several  things  that  he 
had  affirmed;  and  he  was  put  to  silence.  He  put  in 
the  news  that  I  wore  silver  buttons ;  which  was  false, 
for  they  were  but  alchemy.^^  Afterwards  he  put  in 
the  news  that  I  himg  ribands  on  people's  arms,  which 
made  them  follow  me.  This  was  another  of  his  lies, 
for  I  never  used  nor  wore  ribands  in  my  life. 

Three  Friends  went  to  examine  this  priest,  that 
gave  forth  this  false  intelligence,  and  to  know  of 
him  where  he  had  had  that  information.  He  said 
it  was  a  woman  that  told  him  so,  and  that  if  they 


Howgill.  It  is  estimated  that  not  less  than  10,000 
adherents  were  gathered  in  the  city  during  these  early 
years  of  Friends'  ministry. 

"  A  cheap  metal  made  to  imitate  gold. 


220         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

would  come  again  he  would  tell  them  the  woman's 
name.  When  they  came  again  he  said  it  was  a  man, 
but  would  not  tell  them  his  name  then,  but  said  that 
if  they  would  come  again  he  would  tell  them  his 
name  and  where  he  lived. 

They  went  the  third  time;  and  then  he  would  not 
say  who  told  him;  but  offered,  if  I  would  give  it 
under  my  hand  that  there  was  no  such  thing  he  would 
put  that  into  the  news.  Thereupon  the  Friends  car- 
ried it  to  him  under  my  hand;  but  when  they  came 
he  broke  his  promise,  and  would  not  put  it  in:  but 
was  in  a  rage,  and  threatened  them  with  the  con- 
stable. 

This  was  the  deceitful  doing  of  this  forger  of  lies; 
and  these  lies  he  spread  over  the  nation  in  the  news, 
to  render  Truth  odious  and  to  put  evil  into  people's 
minds  against  Friends  and  Truth;  of  which  a  more 
large  account  may  be  seen  in  a  book  printed  soon 
after  this  time,  for  the  clearing  of  Friends  and  Truth 
from  the  slanders  and  false  reports  raised  and  cast 
upon  them. 

These  priests,  the  newsmongers,  were  of  the  Inde- 
pendent sect,  like  them  in  Leicester;  but  the  Lord's 
power  came  over  all  their  lies,  and  swept  them  away; 
and  many  came  to  see  the  naughtiness  of  these 
priests.  The  God  of  heaven  carried  me  over  all  in 
His  power,  and  His  blessed  power  went  over  the  na- 
tion; insomuch  that  many  Friends  about  this  time 
were  moved  to  go  up  and  down  to  sound  forth  the 
everlasting  gospel  in  most  parts  of  this  nation,  and 
also  in  Scotland;  and  the  glory  of  the  Lord  was  felt 
over  all,  to  His  everlasting  praise. 


A  Visit  to  Oliver  Cromwell.  221 


A  great  convincement  there  was  in  London;  some 
in  the  Protector's  house  and  family.  I  went  to  see 
him  again,  but  could  uot  get  to  liim,  the  officers  were 
grown  so  rude. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


^  Ftsit  to  tijc  Soutijcrn  (Counties  SEi}irij  €rit}% 
in  ILaunccston  Sail 

1655-1656. 

It  came  upon  me  about  this  time  from  the  Lord 
to  write  a  short  paper  and  send  it  forth  as  an  exhorta- 
tion and  warning  to  the  Pope,  and  to  all  kings  and 
rulers  in  Europe. 

Besides  this  I  was  moved  to  write  a  letter  to  the 
Protector  (so  called)  to  warn  him  of  the  mighty  work 
the  Lord  hath  to  do  in  the  nations,  and  the  shaking 
of  them;  and  to  beware  of  his  own  wit,  craft,  subtilty, 
and  policy,  and  of  seeking  any  by-ends  to  himself.^ 


^  This  paper  to  the  Protector  was  published  in  1656. 
The  paper  mentioned  just  before  was  "  A  Warning 
from  the  Lord  to  the  Pope  and  to  all  his  Train  of 
Idolatries.-'  Published  "at  the  Black-Spread  Eagle" 
in  1656.  He  wrote  many  more  letters  at  this  period. 
Among  them  was  a  long  letter  to  all  professors  of 
Christianity.   Here  is  a  characteristic  passage  from  it: 

"  Let  us  be  glad,  and  rejoice  for  ever!  Singleness  of 
heart  is  come;  pureness  of  heart  is  come;  joy  and  glad- 
ness is  come.  The  glorious  God  is  exalting  Himself; 
Truth  hath  been  talked  of,  but  now  it  is  possessed. 
Christ  hath  been  talked  of;  but  now  He  is  come  and 
possessed.  The  glory  hath  been  talked  of;  but  now  it 
is  possessed,  and  the  glory  of  man  is  defacing.  The 
Son  of  God  hath  been  talked  of;  but  now  He  is  come. 


A  Visit  to  the  Southern  Counties.  223 

I  travelled  till  I  came  to  Reading,  where  I  found 
a  few  that  were  convinced  of  the  way  of  the  Lord. 
I  stayed  till  the  First-day,  and  had  a  meeting  in 
George  Lamboll's  orchard;  and  a  great  part  of  the 
town  came  to  it.  A  glorious  meeting  it  proved;  great 
convincement  there  was,  and  the  people  were  might- 
ily satisfied.  Thither  came  two  of  Judge  Fell's 
daughters  to  me,  and  George  Bishop,  of  Bristol,  with 
his  sword  by  his  side,  for  he  was  a  captain. 

After  the  meeting  many  Baptists  and  Eanters 
came  privately,  reasoning  and  discoursing;  but  the 
Lord's  power  came  over  them.  The  Ranters  pleaded 
that  God  made  the  devil.  I  denied  it,  and  told  them 
I  was  come  into  the  power  of  God,  the  seed  Christ, 
which  was  before  the  devil  was,  and  bruised  his  head; 
and  he  became  a  devil  by  going  out  of  truth;  and  so 
became  a  murderer  and  a  destroyer.  I  showed  them 
that  God  did  not  make  him  a  devil;  for  God  is  a  God 
of  truth,  and  made  all  things  good,  and  blessed  them; 
but  God  did  not  bless  the  devil.  And  the  devil  is 
bad,  and  was  a  liar  and  a  murderer  from  the  begin- 
ning, and  spoke  of  himself,  and  not  from  God. 

So  the  Truth  stopped  and  bound  them,  and  came 
over  all  the  highest  notions  in  the  nation,  and  con- 
founded them.  For  by  the  power  of  the  Lord  I  was 
manifest,  and  sought  to  be  made  manifest  to  the 
Spirit  of  God  in  all,  that  by  it  they  might  be  turned 
to  God;  as  many  were  turned  to  the  Lord  Jesus 

and  hath  given  us  an  understanding.  Unity  hath  been 
talked  of;  but  now  it  is  come.  Virgins  have  been  talked 
of;  but  now  they  are  come  with  oil  in  their  lamps." 


224         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

Christ  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  were  come  to  sit  under 
His  teacliing. 

After  this  I  passed  to  London,  where  I  stayed 
awhile,  and  had  large  meetings;  then  went  into  Essex, 
and  came  to  Cogshall,  where  was  a  meeting  of  about 
two  thousand  people,  as  it  was  judged,  which  lasted 
several  hours,  and  a  glorious  meeting  it  was.  The 
Word  of  life  was  freely  declared,  and  people  were 
turned  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  their  Teacher  and 
Saviour,  the  Way,  the  Truth,  and  the  Life. 

On  the  Sixth-day  I  had  a  large  meeting  near  Col- 
chester, to  which  many  professors  and  the  Independ- 
ent teachers  came.  After  I  had  done  speaking,  and 
was  stepped  down  from  the  place  on  which  I  stood, 
one  of  the  Independent  teachers  began  to  make  a 
jangling;  which  Amor  Stoddart  perceiving,  said, 
"Stand  up  again,  George";  for  I  was  going  away, 
and  did  not  at  first  hear  them.  But  when  I  heard 
the  Independent,  I  stood  up  again,  and  after  awhile 
the  Lord's  power  came  over  him  and  his  company; 
they  were  confoimded  and  the  Lord's  Truth  went 
over  all.  A  great  flock  of  sheep  hath  the  Lord  in  that 
country,  that  feed  in  Llis  pastures  of  life. 

On  the  First-day  following  we  had  a  very  large 
meeting  not  far  from  Colchester,  wherein  the  Lord's 
power  was  eminently  manifested,  and  the  people  were 
very  well  satisfied;  for,  being  turned  to  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ's  free  teaching,  they  received  it  gladly. 
Many  of  these  people  were  of  the  stock  of  the 
martyrs. 

As  I  passed  through  Colchester,  I  went  to  visit 
James  Parnell  in  prison;  but  the  jailer  would  hardly 


A  Visit  io  the  Southern  Counties.  225 

let  us  come  in  or  stay  with  him.  Very  cruel  they 
were  to  him.  The  jailer's  wife  threatened  to  have  his 
blood;  and  in  that  jail  they  did  destroy  him,  as  the 
reader  may  see  in  a  book  printed  soon  after  his  death, 
giving  an  account  of  his  life  and  death;  and  also  in 
an  epistle  printed  with  his  collected  books  and  writ- 
ings. 

We  came  to  Yarmouth,  where  there  was  a  Friend, 
Thomas  Bond,  in  prison  for  the  Truth  of  Christ,  and 
there  stayed  a  while.  There  we  had  some  service; 
and  some  were  turned  to  the  Lord  in  that  town. 

Thence  we  rode  to  another  town,  about  twenty 
miles  off,  where  were  many  tender  people ;  and  I  was 
moved  of  the  Lord  to  speak  to  them,  as  I  sat  on  my 
horse,  in  several  places  as  I  passed  along.  We  went 
to  another  town  about  five  miles  beyond,  and  put  up 
our  horses  at  an  inn,  Richard  Ilubberthorn  and  I 
having  travelled  five  and  forty  miles  that  day.  There 
were  some  Friendly  people  in  the  town;  and  we  had 
a  tender,  broken  meeting  amongst  them,  in  the  Lord's 
power. 

We  bade  the  hostler  have  our  horses  ready  by 
three  in  the  morning;  for  we  intended  to  ride  to 
Lynn,  about  three  and  thirty  miles,  next  morning. 
But  when  we  were  in  bed  at  our  inn,  about  eleven  at 
night,  the  constable  and  officers  came,  with  a  great 
rabble  of  people,  into  the  inn.  They  said  they  were 
come  with  a  hue-and-cry  from  a  justice  of  the  peace 
that  lived  near  the  town,  about  five  miles  off,  where 
I  had  spoken  to  the  people  in  the  streets,  as  I  rode 
along.  They  had  been  told  to  search  for  two  horse- 
men, that  rode  upon  gray  horses,  and  in  gray  clothes; 


226         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


a  house  having  been  broken  into  the  Seventh-day  be- 
fore at  night.  We  told  them  vpe  were  honest,  inno- 
cent men,  and  abhorred  such  things;  yet  they  appre- 
hended ns,  and  set  a  guard  with  halberts  and  pikes 
upon  us  that  night,  calling  upon  some  of  those 
Friendly  people,  with  others,  to  watch  us. 

Next  morning  we  were  up  betimes,  and  the  con- 
stable, with  his  guard,  carried  us  before  a  justice  of 
the  peace  about  five  miles  off.  We  took  with  us  two 
or  three  of  the  sufficient  men  of  the  town,  who  had 
been  with  us  at  the  great  meeting  at  Captain  Law- 
rence's, and  could  testify  that  we  lay  both  the  Sev- 
enth-day night  and  the  First-day  night  at  Captain 
Lawrence's;  and  it  was  on  the  Seventh-day  night  that 
they  said  the  house  was  broken  into. 

During  the  time  that  I  was  a  prisoner  at  the  Mer- 
maid at  Charing-Cross,  this  Captain  Lawrence 
brought  several  Independent  justices  to  see  me  there, 
with  whom  I  had  much  discourse,  at  which  they  took 
offence.  For  they  pleaded  for  imperfection,  and  to 
sin  as  long  as  they  lived;  but  did  not  like  to  hear  of 
Christ  teaching  His  people  Himself,  and  making  peo- 
ple as  clear,  whilst  here  upon  the  earth,  as  Adam  and 
Eve  were  before  they  fell.  These  justices  had  plotted 
together  this  mischief  against  me  in  the  country,  pre- 
tending that  a  house  was  broken  into,  that  they  might 
send  their  hue-and-cry  after  me.  They  were  vexed, 
also,  and  troubled,  to  hear  of  the  great  meeting  at 
John  Lawrence's  aforesaid;  for  a  colonel  was  there 
convinced  that  day  who  lived  and  died  in  the  Truth, 

But  Providence  so  ordered  that  the  constable  car- 
ried us  to  a  justice  about  five  miles  onward  in  our  way 


A  Visit  to  the  Southern  Counties.  227 

towards  Lynn,  who  was  not  an  Independent,  as  the 
rest  were.  When  we  were  brought  before  him  he 
began  to  be  angry  because  we  did  not  put  ofiF  our 
hats  to  him.  I  told  him  I  had  been  before  the  Pro- 
tector, and  he  was  not  offended  at  my  hat;  and  why 
should  he  be  offended  at  it,  who  was  but  one  of  his 
servants?  Then  he  read  the  hue-and-cry;  and  I  told 
him  that  that  night  wherein  the  house  was  said  to 
have  been  broken  into,  we  were  at  Captain  Law- 
rence's house  and  that  we  had  several  men  present 
who  could  testify  the  truth  thereof. 

Thereupon  the  justice,  having  examined  us  and 
them,  said  he  believed  we  were  not  the  men  that  had 
broken  into  the  house;  but  he  was  sorry,  he  said, 
that  he  had  no  more  against  us.  We  told  him  he 
ought  not  to  be  sorry  for  not  having  evil  against  us, 
but  ought  rather  to  be  glad;  for  to  rejoice  when  he 
got  evil  against  people,  as  for  housebreaking  or  the 
like,  was  not  a  good  mind  in  him. 

It  was  a  good  while,  however,  before  he  could  re- 
solve whether  to  let  us  go  or  send  us  to  prison,  and 
the  wicked  constable  stirred  him  up  against  us,  tell- 
ing him  we  had  good  horses  and  that  if  it  pleased  him 
he  would  carry  us  to  ISTorwich  jail.  But  we  took  hold 
of  the  justice's  confession  that  he  believed  we  were 
not  the  men  that  had  broken  into  the  house;  and, 
after  we  had  admonished  him  to  fear  the  Lord  in  his 
day,  the  Lord's  power  came  over  him,  so  that  he  let 
us  go;  so  their  snare  was  broken. 

A  great  people  was  afterwards  gathered  to  the 
Lord  in  that  towm,  where  I  was  moved  to  speak  to 
them  in  the  street,  and  whence  the  hue-and-cry  came. 


228         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


Being  set  at  liberty,  we  passed  on  to  Cambridge. 
When  I  came  into  the  town  the  scholars,  hearing  of 
me,  were  up,  and  were  exceeding  rude.  I  kept  on 
my  horse's  back,  and  rode  through  them  in  the  Lord's 
power;  but  they  xmhorsed  Amor  Stoddart  before  he 
could  get  to  the  inn.  When  we  were  in  the  inn  they 
were  so  rude  in  the  courts  and  in  the  streets  that  the 
miners,  colliers  and  carters  could  not  be  ruder.  The 
people  of  the  house  asked  us  what  we  would  have  for 
supper.  "  Supper !  "  said  I,  "  were  it  not  that  the 
Lord's  power  is  over  them,  these  rude  scholars  look 
as  if  they  would  pluck  us  in  pieces  and  make  a  supper 
of  us."  They  knew  I  was  so  against  the  trade  of 
preaching,  which  they  were  there  as  apprentices  to 
learn,  that  they  raged  as  greatly  as  ever  Diana's 
craftsmen  did  against  Paul. 

At  this  place  John  Crook  met  us."  When  it  was 
night  the  mayor  of  the  town  being  friendly,  came 
and  fetched  me  to  his  house  ;^  and  as  we  walked 
through  the  streets  there  was  a  bustle  in  the  town; 

^  John  Crook  was  Justice  of  the  Peace  in  Bedford 
County.  He  became  an  eminent  minister  among  the 
Friends  and  suffered  many  imprisonments. 

'  The  wife  of  this  mayor  of  Cambridge  had  been  to  a 
great  meeting  which  Fox  held  the  day  before  near  the 
Isle  of  Ely.  James  Parnell  had  already  labored  in  Cam- 
bridge before  this  visit  of  George  Fox.  One  gets  here  an 
interesting  glimpse  at  the  students  of  two  hundred  and 
fifty  years  ago.  It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  they  failed 
to  unhorse  Fox.  The  struggle  between  Fox  and  the 
students  is  the  subject  of  one  of  Robert  Spence's 
etchings. 


A  Visit  to  the  Southern  Counties.  229 

but  they  did  not  know  me,  it  being  darkish.  They 
were  in  a  rage,  not  only  against  me,  but  against  the 
mayor  also ;  so  that  he  was  almost  afraid  to  walk  the 
streets  with  me  for  the  tumult.  We  sent  for  the 
Friendly  people,  and  had  a  fine  meeting  in  the  power 
of  God;  and  I  stayed  there  all  night. 

Next  morning,  having  ordered  our  horses  to  be 
ready  by  the  sixth  hour,  we  passed  peaceably  out  of 
to^\^l.  The  destroyers  were  disappointed:  for  they 
thought  I  would  have  stayed  longer  in  the  town,  and 
intended  to  have  done  us  mischief;  but  our  passing 
away  early  in  the  morning  frustrated  their  evil  pur- 
poses against  us. 

At  Evesham  I  heard  that  the  magistrates  had  cast 
several  Friends  into  divers  prisons,  and  that,  hearing 
of  my  coming,  they  made  a  pair  of  high  stocks.  I 
sent  for  Edward  Pittaway,  a  Friend  that  lived  near 
Evesham,  and  asked  him  the  truth  of  the  thing.  He 
said  it  was  so.  I  went  that  night  with  him  to  Eves- 
ham; and  in  the  evening  we  had  a  large,  precious 
meeting,  wherein  Friends  and  people  were  refreshed 
with  the  Word  of  life,  the  power  of  the  Lord. 

Next  morning  I  rode  to  one  of  the  prisons,  and 
visited  Friends  there,  and  encouraged  them.  Then  I 
rode  to  the  other  prison,  where  were  several  prison- 
ers. Amongst  them  was  Humphry  Smith,  who  had 
been  a  priest,  but  was  now  become  a  free  minister 
of  Christ.  When  I  had  visited  Friends  at  both  pris- 
ons, and  was  turned  to  go  out  of  the  town,  I  espied 
the  magistrates  coming  up  the  town,  intending  to 
seize  me  in  prison.  But  the  Lord  frustrated  their 
intent,  the  innocent  escaped  their  snare,  and  God's 


230         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

blessed  power  came  over  them  all.  But  exceeding 
rude  and  envious  were  the  priests  and  professors 
about  this  time  in  these  parts. 

I  went  from  Evesham  to  Worcester,  and  had  a 
quiet  and  a  precious  meeting  there.  From  Worcester 
we  went  to  Tewkesbury,  where  in  the  evening  we 
had  a  great  meeting,  to  which  came  the  priest  of  the 
town  with  a  great  rabble  of  rude  people. 

Leaving  Tewkesbury,  we  passed  to  Warwick,  where 
in  the  evening  we  had  a  meeting  with  many  sober 
people  at  a  widow-woman's  house.  A  precious  meet- 
ing we  had  in  the  Lord's  power;  several  were  con- 
vinced and  turned  to  the  Lord.  After  the  meeting 
a  Baptist  in  the  company  began  to  jangle;  and  the 
bailiff  of  the  town,  with  his  officers,  came  in  and  said, 
"  What  do  these  people  here  at  this  time  of  night  ?  " 
So  he  secured  John  Crook,  Amor  Stoddart,  Gerrard 
Roberts  and  me;  but  we  had  leave  to  go  to  our  inn, 
and  to  be  forthcoming  in  the  morning. 

The  next  morning  many  rude  people  came  into  the 
inn,  and  into  our  chambers,  desperate  fellows;  but 
the  Lord's  power  gave  us  dominion  over  them.  Ger- 
rard Roberts  and  John  Crook  went  to  the  bailiff  to 
know  what  he  had  to  say  to  us.  He  said  we  might  go 
our  ways,  for  he  had  little  to  say  to  us.  As  we  rode 
out  of  town  it  lay  upon  me  to  ride  to  his  house  to 
let  him  know  that,  the  Protector  having  given  forth 
an  instrument  of  government  in  which  liberty  of  con- 
science was  granted,  it  was  very  strange  that,  con- 
trary to  that  instrument  of  government,  he  would 
trouble  peaceable  people  that  feared  God. 

The  Friends  went  with  me,  but  the  rude  people 


A  Visit  to  the  Southern  Counties.  231 

gathered  about  us  with  stones.  One  of  them  took 
hold  of  my  horse's  bridle  and  broke  it;  but  the  horse, 
drawing  back,  threw  him  under  him.  Though  the 
bailiff  saw  this,  yet  he  did  not  stop,  nor  so  much  as 
rebuke  the  rude  multitude;  so  that  it  was  strange 
we  were  not  slain  or  hurt  in  the  streets;  for  the  peo- 
ple threw  stones  and  struck  at  us  as  we  rode  along 
the  town. 

When  we  were  quite  out  of  the  town  I  told 
Friends  that  it  was  upon  me  from  the  Lord  that  I 
must  go  back  into  the  town  again;  and  if  any  one  of 
them  felt  anything  upon  him  from  the  Lord  he  might 
follow  me;  the  rest,  that  did  not,  might  go  on  to 
Dun-Cow,  So  I  passed  through  the  market  in  the 
dreadful  power  of  God,  declaring  the  Word  of  life 
to  them;  and  John  Crook  followed  me.  Some  struck 
at  me ;  but  the  Lord's  power  was  over  them,  and  gave 
me  dominion  over  all.  I  showed  them  their  unwor- 
thiness  to  claim  the  name  of  Christians,  and  the  \m- 
worthiness  of  their  teachers,  that  had  not  brought 
them  into  more  sobriety;  and  what  a  shame  they  were 
to  Christianity. 

Having  cleared  myself,  I  turned  out  of  the  town 
again,  and  passed  to  Coventry,  where  we  found  the 
people  closed  up  with  darkness.  I  went  to  the  house 
of  a  professor,  where  I  had  formerly  been,  and  he 
was  drunk;  which  grieved  my  soul  so  that  I  did  not 
go  into  any  house  in  the  town ;  but  rode  into  some  of 
the  streets,  and  into  the  market-place.  I  felt  that 
the  power  of  the  Lord  was  over  the  town. 

Then  I  went  on  to  Dun-Cow,  and  had  a  meeting  in 
the  evening,  and  some  were  turned  to  the  Lord  by 


232         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


His  Spirit,  as  some  also  were  at  Warwick  and  at 
Tewkesbury.  We  lay  at  Dun-Cow  that  night;  we 
met  with  John  Camm,  a  faithful  minister  of  the  ever- 
lasting gospel.  In  the  morning  there  gathered  a  rude 
company  of  priests  and  people  who  behaved  more  like 
beasts  than  men,  for  some  of  them  came  riding  on 
horseback  into  the  room  where  we  were;  but  the 
Lord  gave  us  dominion  over  them. 

Thence  we  passed  into  Leicestershire,  and  after 
that  to  Baddesley  in  Warwickshire.  Here  William 
Edmundson,  who  lived  in  Ireland^,  having  some  draw- 
ings upon  his  spirit  to  come  into  England  to  see  me, 
met  with  me;  by  whom  I  wrote  a  few  lines  to  Friends 
then  convinced  in  the  north  of  Ireland.* 

Friends: 

In  that  which  convinced  you,  wait;  that  you  may 
have  that  removed  you  are  convinced  of.  And  all  my 
dear  Friends,  dwell  in  the  life,  and  love,  and  power,  and 
wisdom  of  God,  in  unity  one  with  another,  and  with 
God;  and  the  peace  and  wisdom  of  God  fill  all  your 
hearts  that  nothing  may  rule  in  you  but  the  life  which 
stands  in  the  Lord  God.  G.  F. 


*  This  William  Edmundson  was  one  of  the  first  per- 
sons to  espouse  and  proclaim  the  principles  of  the 
Quakers  in  Ireland.  He  had  been  a  soldier  in  Crom- 
well's army,  and  he  carried  the  spirit  and  courage  of  an 
Ironside  into  the  new  service.  He  had  strange  and  un- 
speakably difficult  experiences  to  endure  in  those  try- 
ing days  of  unsettlement  in  Ireland,  but  he  was  enabled 
to  do  a  great  work  for  the  cause  which  he  served.  He 
also  had  large  and  valuable  service  in  America. 


A  Visit  to  the  Southern  Counties.  233 

When  these  few  lines  were  read  amongst  the 
Friends  in  Ireland  at  their  meeting,  the  power  of  the 
Lord  came  upon  all  in  the  room. 

From  Baddesley  we  passed  to  Swannington  and 
Higham,  and  so  into  Northamptonshire  and  Bedford- 
shire, having  great  meetings;  and  many  were  turned 
to  the  Lord  by  His  power  and  Spirit. 

When  we  came  to  Baldock  in  Hertfordshire,  I 
asked  if  there  was  nothing  in  that  town,  no  profes- 
sion; and  it  was  answered  me  that  there  were  some 
Baptists,  and  a  Baptist  woman  who  was  sick.  John 
Rush,  of  Bedfordshire,  went  with  me  to  visit  her. 

When  we  came  in  there  were  many  tender  people 
about  her.  They  told  me  she  was  not  a  woman  for 
this  world,  but  if  I  had  anything  that  would  comfort 
her  concerning  the  world  to  come,  I  might  speak  to 
her.  I  was  moved  of  the  Lord  God  to  speak  to  her; 
and  the  Lord  raised  her  up  again,  to  the  astonishment 
of  the  town  and  country.  This  Baptist  woman  and 
her  husband,  whose  name  was  Baldock,  came  to  be 
convinced,  and  many  hundreds  of  people  have  met  at 
their  house  since.  Great  meetings  and  convince- 
ments  were  in  those  parts  afterwards ;  many  received 
the  Word  of  life,  and  sat  down  under  the  teaching  of 
Christ,  their  Saviour. 

When  we  had  visited  this  sick  woman  we  returned 
to  our  inn,  where  were  two  desperate  fellows  fighting 
so  furiously  that  none  durst  come  nigh  to  part  them. 
But  I  was  moved,  in  the  Lord's  power,  to  go  to  them; 
and  when  I  had  loosed  their  hands,  I  held  one  of 
them  by  one  hand  and  the  other  by  the  other,  showed 
them  the  evil  of  their  doings,  and  reconciled  them 


234         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

one  to  the  other;  and  they  were  so  loving  and  thank- 
ful to  me  that  people  marveled  at  it.'' 

Now,  after  I  had  tarried  some  time  in  London,  and 
had  visited  Friends  in  their  meetings,  I  went  out  of 
town,  leaving  James  ISTayler  in  the  city.  As  I  passed 
from  him  I  cast  my  eyes  upon  him,  and  a  fear  struck 
me  concerning  him;  but  I  went  away  and  rode  down 
to  Ryegate,  in  Surrey,  where  I  had  a  little  meeting.® 
There  the  Friends  told  me  of  one  Thomas  Moore,  a 
justice  of  the  peace,  that  lived  not  far  from  Ryegate, 
a  Friendly,  moderate  man.  I  went  to  visit  him  at  his 
house,  and  he  came  to  be  a  serviceable  man  in  Truth. 

Thence  we  went  to  Dorchester,  and  alighted  at  an 
inn,  a  Baptist's  house.  We  sent  into  the  town  to  the 
Baptists,  to  ask  them  to  let  us  have  their  meeting- 
house to  assemble  in,  and  to  invite  the  sober  people 
to  the  meeting;  but  they  denied  it  us.  We  sent  to 
them  again,  to  know  why  they  would  deny  us  their 
meeting-house,  so  the  thing  was  noised  about  in  the 
town.  Then  we  sent  them  word  that  if  they  would 
not  let  us  come  to  their  house,  they,  or  any  people 
that  feared  God,  might  come  to  our  inn,  if  they 
pleased;  but  they  were  in  a  great  rage.  Their  teacher 
and  many  of  them  came  up,  and  slapped  their  Bibles 
on  the  table. 

I  asked  them  why  they  were  so  angry, — "  Were 

*  These  cases  are  further  illustration  of  Fox's  power 
to  deal  with  sickness  and  with  desperate  persons.  He 
always  felt  himself  equal  to  any  emergency  which  con- 
fronted him. 

"  James  Nayler's  fall,  which  is  here  felt  in  dim  fore- 
cast, became  very  soon  only  too  sadly  real. 


A  Visit  to  the  Southern  Counties.  235 

they  angry  with  the  Bible  ?  "  But  they  fell  into  a  dis- 
course about  their  water-baptism.  I  asked  them 
whether  they  could  say  they  were  sent  of  God  to  bap- 
tize people,  as  John  was,  and  whether  they  had  the 
same  Spirit  and  power  that  the  apostles  had  ?  They 
said  they  had  not. 

Then  I  asked  them  how  many  powers  there  are, — 
whether  there  are  any  more  than  the  power  of  God 
and  the  power  of  the  devil.  They  said  there  was  not 
any  other  power  than  those  two.  Then  said  I,  "  If 
you  have  not  the  power  of  God  that  the  apostles  had, 
you  act  by  the  power  of  the  devil."  Many  sober  peo- 
ple were  present,  who  said  they  have  thrown  them- 
selves on  their  backs.  Many  substantial  people  were 
convinced  that  night ;  a  precious  service  we  had  there 
for  the  Lord,  and  His  power  came  over  all. 

Next  morning,  as  we  were  passing  away,  the  Bap- 
tists, being  in  a  rage,  began  to  shake  the  dust  off 
their  feet  after  us.  "  What,"  said  I,  "  in  the  power 
of  darkness!  We,  who  are  in  the  power  of  God, 
shake  off  the  dust  of  our  feet  against  you." 

Leaving  Dorchester,  we  came  to  Weymouth; 
where  also  we  inquired  after  sober  people ;  and  about 
fourscore  of  them  gathered  together  at  a  priest's 
house.  Most  of  them  received  the  Word  of  life  and 
were  turned  to  their  teacher,  Christ  Jesus,  who  had 
enlightened  them  with  His  divine  Light,  by  which 
they  might  see  their  sins,  and  Him  who  saveth  from 
sin.  A  blessed  meeting  we  had  with  them,  and  they 
received  the  Truth  in  the  love  of  it,  with  gladness  of 
heart. 

The  meeting  held  several  hours.    The  state  of 


236         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

their  teachers,  and  their  apostasy  was  opened  to 
them;  and  the  state  of  the  apostles, and  of  the  Church 
in  their  days;  and  the  state  of  the  law  and  of  the 
prophets  before  Christ,  and  how  Christ  came  to  fulfill 
them;  that  He  was  their  teacher  in  the  apostles'  days; 
and  that  He  was  come  now  to  teach  His  people  Him- 
self by  His  power  and  spirit.  All  was  quiet,  the 
meeting  broke  up  peaceably,  the  people  were  very 
loving;  and  a  meeting  is  continued  in  that  town  to 
this  day.  Many  are  added  to  them;  and  some  who 
had  been  Ranters  came  to  own  the  Truth,  and  to  Hve 
very  soberly. 

There  was  a  captain  of  horse  in  the  town,  who 
sent  to  me,  and  would  fain  have  had  me  stay  longer; 
but  I  was  not  to  stay.  He  and  his  man  rode  out  of 
town  with  me  about  seven  miles;  Edward  Pyot  also 
being  with  me.  This  captain  was  the  fattest,  merriest, 
cheerfullest  man,  and  the  most  given  to  laughter, 
that  ever  I  met  with:  insomuch  that  I  was  several 
times  moved  to  speak  in  the  dreadful  power  of  the 
Lord  to  him;  yet  it  was  become  so  customary  to  him 
that  he  would  presently  laugh  at  anything  he  saw. 
But  I  still  admonished  him  to  come  to  sobriety,  and 
the  fear  of  the  Lord  and  sincerity. 

We  lay  at  an  inn  that  night,  and  the  next  morning 
I  was  moved  to  speak  to  him  again,  when  he  parted 
from  us.  The  next  time  I  saw  him  he  told  me  that 
when  I  spoke  to  him  at  parting,  the  power  of  the 
Lord  so  struck  him  that  before  he  got  home  he  was 
serious  enough,  and  discontinued  his  laughing.  He 
afterwards  was  convinced,  and  became  a  serious  and 
good  man,  and  died  in  the  Truth. 


A  Visit  to  the  Southern  Counties.  237 

After  tkis  we  passed  to  Totness,  a  dark  town.  We 
lodged  there  at  an  inn;  and  that  night  Edward  Pyot 
was  sick,  but  the  Lord's  power  healed  him,  so  that  the 
next  day  we  got  to  Kingsbridge,  and  at  our  inn  in- 
quired for  the  sober  people  of  the  town.  They  di- 
rected us  to  Nicholas  Tripe  and  his  wife;  and  we 
went  to  their  house.  They  sent  for  the  priest,  with 
whom  we  had  some  discourse;  but  he,  being  con- 
founded, quickly  left  us.  Mcholas  Tripe  and  his 
wife  were  convinced;  and  since  that  time  there  has 
been  a  good  meeting  of  Friends  in  that  country. 

In  the  evening  we  returned  to  our  inn.  There  be- 
ing many  people  drinking  in  the  house,  I  was  moved 
of  the  Lord  to  go  amongst  them,  and  to  direct  them 
to  the  Light  with  which  Christ,  the  heavenly  man, 
had  enlightened  them;  by  which  they  might  see  all 
their  evil  ways,  words,  and  deeds,  and  by  the  same 
Light  might  also  see  Christ  Jesus  their  Saviour. 

The  innkeeper  stood  uneasy,  seeing  it  hindered  his 
guests  from  drinking;  and  as  soon  as  the  last  words 
were  out  of  my  mouth  he  snatched  up  the  candle,  and 
said,  "  Come,  here  is  a  light  for  you  to  go  into  your 
chamber."  Next  morning,  when  he  was  cool,  I  rep- 
resented to  him  what  an  uncivil  thing  it  was  for  him 
so  to  do;  then,  warning  him  of  the  day  of  the  Lord, 
we  got  ready  and  passed  away. 

We  came  next  day  to  Plymouth,  refreshed  our- 
selves at  our  inn,  and  went  to  Robert  Cary's,  where 
we  had  a  very  precious  meeting.  At  this  meeting 
was  Elizabeth  Trelawny,  daughter  to  a  baronet.  She 
being  somewhat  thick  of  hearing,  came  close  up  to 
me,  and  clapped  her  ear  very  nigh  me  while  I  spake; 


238         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


and  she  was  convinced.  After  this  meeting  came  in 
some  jangling  Baptists;  but  the  Lord's  power  came 
over  them,  and  Elizabeth  Trelawny  gave  testimony 
thereto,  A  fine  meeting  was  settled  there  in  the 
Lord's  power,  which  hath  continued  ever  since,  where 
many  faithful  Friends  have  been  convinced. 

Thence  we  passed  into  Cornwall,  and  came  to  an 
inn  in  the  parish  of  Menheriot.  At  night  we  had  a 
meeting  at  Edward  Hancock's,  to  which  came 
Thomas  Mounce  and  a  priest,  with  many  people.  We 
brought  the  priest  to  confess  that  he  was  a  minister 
made  by  the  state,  and  maintained  by  the  state;  and 
he  was  confounded  and  went  his  way;  but  many  of 
the  people  stayed. 

I  directed  them  to  the  Light  of  Christ,  by  which 
they  might  see  their  sins;  and  their  Saviour  Christ 
Jesus,  the  way  to  God,  their  Mediator,  to  make  peace 
betwixt  God  and  them;  their  Shepherd  to  feed  them, 
and  their  Prophet  to  teach  them.  I  directed  them 
to  the  Spirit  of  God  in  themselves,  by  which  they 
might  know  the  Scriptures,  and  be  led  into  all  Truth; 
and  by  the  Spirit  might  know  God,  and  in  it  have 
unity  one  with  another.  Many  were  convinced  at 
that  time,  and  came  imder  Christ's  teaching;  and 
there  are  fine  gatherings  in  the  name  of  Jesus  in 
those  parts  at  this  day. 

When  we  came  to  Ives,  Edward  Pyot's  horse  hav- 
ing cast  a  shoe,  we  stayed  to  have  it  set ;  and  while  he 
was  getting  his  horse  shod,  I  walked  down  to  the  sea- 
side. When  I  returned  I  found  the  town  in  an  up- 
roar. They  were  haling  Edward  Pyot  and  the  other 
Friend  before  Major  Peter  Ceely,  a  major  in  the 


A  Visit  to  the  Southern  Counties.  239 


army  and  a  justice  of  the  peace.  I  followed  them 
into  the  justice's  house,  though  they  did  not  lay 
hands  upon  me. 

When  we  came  in,  the  house  was  full  of  rude  peo- 
ple; whereupon  I  asked  if  there  were  not  an  officer 
amono;  them  to  keep  the  people  civil.  Major  Ceely 
said  that  he  was  a  magistrate.  I  told  him  that  he 
should  then  show  forth  gravity  and  sobriety,  and  use 
his  authority  to  keep  the  people  civil;  for  I  never  saw 
any  people  ruder;  the  Indians  were  more  like  Chris- 
tians than  they. 

After  a  while  they  brought  forth  a  paper, 
and  asked  whether  I  would  own  it.*  I  said, 
Yes.  Then  he  tendered  the  oath  of  abjuration  to  us; 
whereupon  I  put  my  hand  in  my  pocket  and  drew 
forth  the  answer  to  it  which  I  had  given  to  the  Pro- 
tector. After  I  had  given  him  that,  he  examined  us 
severally,  one  by  one.  He  had  with  him  a  silly  young 
priest,  who  asked  us  many  frivolous  questions;  and 
amongst  the  rest  he  desired  to  cut  my  hair,  which 
was  then  pretty  long;  but  I  was  not  to  cut  it,  though 
many  times  many  were  offended  at  it.  I  told  them 
I  had  no  pride  in  it,  and  it  was  not  of  my  own 
putting  on. 

At  length  the  justice  put  us  under  a  guard  of  sol- 
diers, who  were  hard  and  wild,  like  the  justice  him- 
self; nevertheless  we  warned  the  people  of  the  day 
of  the  Lord,  and  declared  the  Truth  to  them.  The 
next  day  he  sent  us,  guarded  by  a  party  of  horse  with 
swords  and  pistols,  to  Redruth.   On  First-day  the  sol- 

*  A  paper  which  George  Fox  had  written  to  the  seven  parishes  :I 
Land's  Kna. 


240         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

diers  would  have  taken  us  away;  but  we  told  them  it 
was  their  Sabbath,  and  it  was  not  usual  to  travel  on 
that  day. 

Several  of  the  townspeople  gathered  about  us,  and 
whilst  I  held  the  soldiers  in  discourse,  Edward  Pyot 
spoke  to  the  people;  and  afterwards  he  held  the  sol- 
diers in  discourse,  whilst  I  spoke  to  the  people.  In 
the  meantime  the  other  Friend  got  out  the  back  way, 
and  went  to  the  steeple-house  to  speak  to  the  priest 
and  people.  The  people  were  exceedingly  des- 
perate, in  a  mighty  rage  against  him,  and  they  sorely 
abused  him.  The  soldiers  also,  missing  him,  were  in 
a  great  rage,  ready  to  kill  us;  but  I  declared  the  day 
of  the  Lord  and  the  Word  of  eternal  life  to  the  peo- 
ple that  gathered  about  us. 

In  the  afternoon  the  soldiers  were  resolved  to  take 
us  away,  so  we  took  horse.  When  we  were  come  to 
the  town's  end  I  Avas  moved  of  the  Lord  to  go  back 
again,  to  speak  to  the  old  man  of  the  house.  The 
soldiers  drew  out  their  pistols,  and  swore  I  should 
not  go  back.  I  heeded  them  not,  but  rode  back,  and 
they  rode  after  me.  I  cleared  myself  to  the  old  man 
and  the  people,  and  then  returned  with  them,  and  re- 
proved them  for  being  so  rude  and  violent. 

At  night  we  were  brought  to  a  town  then  called 
Smethick,  but  since  known  as  Falmouth.  It  being 
the  evening  of  the  First-day,  there  came  to  our  inn 
the  chief  constable  of  the  place,  and  many  sober  peo- 
ple, some  of  whom  began  to  inquire  concerning  us. 
We  told  them  we  were  prisoners  for  Truth's  sake; 
and  much  discourse  we  had  with  them  concerning  the 
things  of  God.    They  were  very  sober  and  loving  to 


A  Visit  to  the  Southern  Counties.  241 


us.  Some  were  convinced,  and  stood  faithful  ever 
after. 

When  the  constable  and  these  people  were  gone, 
others  came  in,  who  were  also  very  civil,  and  went 
away  very  loving.  When  all  were  gone,  we  went  to 
our  chamber  to  go  to  bed;  and  about  the  eleventh 
hour  Edward  Pyot  said,  "  I  v«dll  shut  the  door;  it 
may  be  some  may  come  to  do  us  mischief."  After- 
wards we  understood  that  Captain  Keat,  who  com- 
manded the  party,  had  intended  to  do  us  some  injury 
that  night;  but  the  door  being  bolted,  he  missed  liis 
design. 

Next  morning  Captain  Keat  brought  a  kinsman 
of  his,  a  rude,  wicked  man,  and  put  him  into  the 
room;  himself  standing  without.  This  evil-minded 
man  walked  huffing  up  and  do\vn  the  room;  I  bade 
him  fear  the  Lord.  Thereupon  he  ran  upon  me, 
struck  me  with  both  liis  hands,  and,  clapping  his  leg 
behind  me,  would  have  thro-\\Ti  me  down  if  he  could; 
but  he  was  not  able,  for  I  stood  stiff  and  still,  and 
let  him  strike. 

As  I  looked  towards  the  door,  I  saw  Captain  Keat 
look  on,  and  see  his  kinsman  thus  beat  and  abuse  me. 
I  said  to  him,  "  Keat,  dost  thou  allow  this  ?  "  He 
said  he  did.  "  Is  this  manly  or  civil,"  said  I,  "  to 
have  us  under  a  guard,  and  then  put  a  man  to  abuse 
and  beat  us  ?  Is  this  manly,  civil,  or  Christian  ?  "  I 
desired  one  of  our  friends  to  send  for  the  constables, 
and  they  came. 

Then  I  desired  the  Captain  to  let  the  constables 
see  his  warrant  or  order,  by  which  he  was  to  carry 
us;  which  he  did.    His  warrant  was  to  conduct  us 


242         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

safe  to  Captain  Fox,  governor  of  Pendennis  Castle; 
and  if  the  governor  should  not  be  at  home,  he  was  to 
convey  us  to  Launceston  jail.  I  told  him  he  had 
broken  his  order  concerning  us;  for  we,  who  were 
his  prisoners,  were  to  be  safely  conducted;  but  he 
had  brought  a  man  to  beat  and  abuse  us;  so  he  hav- 
ing broken  his  order,  I  wished  the  constable  to  keep 
the  warrant.  Accordingly  he  did,  and  told  the  sol- 
diers they  might  go  their  ways,  for  he  would  take 
charge  of  the  prisoners;  and  if  it  cost  twenty  shillings 
in  charges  to  carry  us  up,  they  should  not  have  the 
warrant  again.  I  showed  the  soldiers  the  baseness  of 
their  carriage  towards  us;  and  they  walked  up  and 
down  the  house,  pitifully  blank  and  do^vn. 

The  constables  went  to  the  castle,  and  told  the 
officers  what  they  had  done.  The  officers  showed 
great  dislike  of  Captain  Keat's  base  carriage  towards 
us;  and  told  the  constables  that  Major-General  Des- 
borough  was  coming  to  Bodmin,  and  that  we  should 
meet  him ;  and  it  was  likely  he  would  free  us.  Mean- 
while owv  old  guard  of  soldiers  came  by  way  of  en- 
treaty to  us,  and  promised  that  they  would  be  civil 
to  us  if  we  would  go  with  them. 

Thus  the  morning  was  spent  till  about  the  eleventh 
hour;  and  then,  upon  the  soldiers'  entreaty,  and  their 
promise  to  be  more  civil,  the  constables  gave  them 
the  order  again;  and  we  went  with  them. 

Great  was  the  civility  and  courtesy  of  the  consta- 
bles and  people  of  that  town  towards  us.  They 
kindly  entertained  us,  and  the  Lord  rewarded  them 
with  His  truth;  for  many  of  them  have  since  been 
convinced  thereof,  and  are  gathered  into  the  name 


A  Visit  to  the  Southern  Counties.  243 


of  Jesus,  and  sit  under  Christ,  their  Teacher  and 
Saviour. 

Captain  Keat,  who  commanded  our  guard,  under- 
standing that  Captain  Fox,  who  was  governor  of 
Pendennis  Castle,  was  gone  to  meet  Major-General 
Dcsborough,"  did  not  carry  us  thither;  but  took  us 
directly  to  Bodmin,  in  the  way  to  Launceston.  We 
met  Major-General  Desborough  on  the  way.  The 
captain  of  his  troop,  who  rode  before  him,  knew  me, 
and  said,  "  Oh,  Mr.  Fox,  what  do  you  here  ? "  I  re- 
plied, "  I  am  a  prisoner."  "  Alack,"  he  said,  "  for 
what  ?  "  I  told  him  I  was  taken  up  as  I  was  travel- 
ling. "  Then,"  said  he,  "  I  will  speak  to  my  lord, 
and  he  will  set  you  at  liberty." 

So  he  came  from  the  head  of  his  troop,  and  rode 
up  to  the  coach,  and  spoke  to  the  Major-General. 
We  also  gave  him  an  account  of  how  we  were  taken. 
He  began  to  speak  against  the  Light  of  Christ; 
against  which  I  exhorted  him.  Then  he  told  the  sol- 
diers that  they  might  carry  us  to  Launceston;  for  he 
could  not  stay  to  talk  with  us,  lest  his  horses  should 
take  cold. 

To  Bodmin  we  were  taken  that  night;  and  when 
we  came  to  our  inn  Captain  Keat,  who  was  in  before 
US,  put  me  into  a  room  and  went  his  way.    When  I 


Major-Genoral  Desborough  was  one  of  Cromwell's 
favorite  generals,  who  received  many  places  of  honour 
from  the  Protector.  In  1655  he  received  his  commis- 
sion as  major-general,  in  charge  of  Wiltshire,  Somerset- 
shire, Devonshire  and  Cornwall,  and  in  the  main  he 
proved  an  able  administrator  in  this  office. 


244         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

was  come  in,  there  stood  a  man  with  a  naked  rapier  in 
his  hand.  Whereupon  I  turned  out  again,  called  for 
Captain  Keat,  and  said,  "  What  now,  Keat;  what 
trick  hast  thou  played  now,  to  put  me  into  a  room 
where  there  is  a  man  with  his  naked  rapier?  What 
is  thy  end  in  this  ?  "  "  Oh,"  said  he,  "  pray  hold 
your  tongue;  for  if  you  speak  to  this  man,  we  can- 
not rule  him,  he  is  so  devilish."  "  Then,"  said  I, 
"  dost  thou  put  me  into  a  room  where  there  is  such 
a  man  with  a  naked  rapier  that  thou  sayest  you  can- 
not rule  him?  What  an  unworthy,  base  trick  is 
this  ?  and  to  put  me  single  into  this  room,  away  from 
ray  friends  that  were  fellow-prisoners  with  me  ? " 
Thus  his  plot  was  discovered  and  the  mischief  they 
intended  was  prevented. 

Afterward  we  got  another  room,  where  we  were 
together  all  night;  and  in  the  evening  we  declared 
the  Truth  to  the  people;  but  they  were  dark  and 
hardened.  The  soldiers,  notwithstanding  their  fair 
promises,  were  very  rude  and  wicked  to  us  again,  and 
sat  up  drinking  and  roaring  all  night. 

'Next  day  we  were  brought  to  Launceston,  where 
Captain  Keat  delivered  us  to  the  jailer.  Now  was 
there  no  Friend,  nor  Friendly  people,  near  us;  and 
the  people  of  the  town  were  a  dark,  hardened  peo- 
ple. The  jailer  required  us  to  pay  seven  shillings  a 
week  for  our  horse-meat,*  and  seven  shillings  a  week 
apiece  for  our  diet.  After  some  time  several  sober 
persons  came  to  see  us,  and  some  people  of  the  town 
were  convinced,  and  many  friendly  people  out  of 

•  Provender  for  their  horses. 


A  Visit  to  the  Southern  Counties.  245 

several  parts  of  the  country  came  to  visit  us,  and 
were  convinced. 

Then  got  up  a  great  rage  among  the  professors 
and  priests  against  us.  They  said,  "  This  people 
'  Thou  '  and  '  Thee  '  all  men  without  respect  and  will 
not  put  off  their  hats,  nor  bow  the  knee  to  any  man; 
but  we  shall  see,  when  the  assize  comes,  whether  they 
will  dare  to  '  Thou  '  and  '  Thee  '  the  judge,  and  keep 
on  their  hats  before  him."  They  expected  we  should 
be  hanged  at  the  assize. 

But  all  tliis  was  little  to  us;  for  we  saw  how  God 
would  stain  the  world's  honour  and  glory;  and  were 
commanded  not  to  seek  that  honour,  nor  give  it;  but 
knew  the  honour  that  cometh  from  God  only,  and 
sought  that. 

It  was  nine  weeks  from  the  time  of  our  commit- 
ment to  the  time  of  the  assizes,  to  which  abundance 
of  people  came  from  far  and  near  to  hear  the  trial 
of  the  Quakers.  Captain  Bradden  lay  there  with  his 
troop  of  horse.  His  soldiers  and  the  sheriff's  men 
guarded  us  to  the  court  through  the  multitude  that 
filled  the  streets;  and  much  ado  they  had  to  get  us 
through.  Besides,  the  doors  and  windows  were  filled 
with  people  looking  upon  us. 

When  we  were  brought  into  the  court,  we  stood  a 
while  with  our  hats  on,  and  all  was  quiet.  I  was 
moved  to  say,  "  Peace  be  amongst  you." 

Judge  Glynne,  a  Welshman,  then  Chief -Justice 
of  England,  said  to  the  jailer,  "  What  be  these  you 
have  brought  here  into  the  court  ?  "  "  Prisoners,  my 
lord,"  said  he. 


246         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


"  Why  do  you  not  put  off  your  hats  ?  "  said  the 
Judge  to  us.    We  said  nothing. 

"  Put  off  your  hats,"  said  the  Judge  again.  Still 
we  said  nothing.  Then  said  the  Judge,  "  The  Court 
commands  you  to  put  off  your  hats." 

Then  I  spoke,  and  said,  "  Where  did  ever  any  mag- 
istrate, king,  or  judge,  from  Moses  to  Daniel,  com- 
mand any  to  put  off  their  hats,  when  they  came 
before  him  in  his  court,  either  amongst  the  Jews,  the 
people  of  God,  or  amongst  the  heathen  ?  *  and  if  the 
law  of  England  doth  command  any  such  thing,  show 
me  that  law  either  written  or  printed." 

Then  the  Judge  grew  very  angry,  and  said,  "  I  do 
not  carry  my  law-books  on  my  back."  "  But,"  said 
I,  "  tell  me  where  it  is  printed  in  any  statute-book, 
that  I  may  read  it." 

Then  said  the  Judge,  "  Take  him  away,  prevari- 
cator! I'll  ferJc  him."  So  they  took  us  away,  and 
put  us  among  the  thieves. 

Presently  after  he  calls  to  the  jailer,  "  Bring  them 
up  again."  "  Come,"  said  he,  "  where  had  they  hats, 
from  Moses  to  Daniel;  come,  answer  me:  I  have  you 
fast  now." 

I  replied,  "  Thou  mayest  read  in  the  third  of 
Daniel,  that  the  three  children  were  cast  into  the 
fiery  furnace  by  l^ebuchadnezzar's  command,  with 
their  coats,  their  hose,  and  their  hats  on." 

This  plain  instance  stopped  him:  so  that,  not  hav- 


*  This  was  Puritan  England,  and  an  appeal  to  Old 
Testament  precedents  was  not  out  of  place. 


A  Visit  to  the  Southern  Counties. 


247 


ing  anything  else  to  say  to  the  point,  he  cried  again, 
"  Take  thorn  away,  jailer." 

Accordingly  we  were  taken  away,  and  thrust  in 
among  the  thieves,  where  we  were  kept  a  great 
while;  and  then,  without  being  called  again,  the 
sheriff's  men  and  the  troopers  made  way  for  us  (but 
we  were  almost  spent)  to  get  through  the  crowd  of 
people,  and  guarded  us  to  the  prison  again,  a  multi- 
tude of  people  following  us,  with  whom  we  had  much 
discourse  and  reasoning  at  the  jail. 

We  had  some  good  books  to  set  forth  our  princi- 
ples, and  to  inform  people  of  the  Truth.  The  Judge 
and  justices  hearing  of  this,  they  sent  Captain  Brad- 
den  for  them.  He  came  into  the  jail  to  us,  and  vio- 
lently took  our  books  from  us,  some  out  of  Edward 
Pyot's  hands,  and  carried  them  away;  so  we  never 
got  them  again. 

[While  in  the  Jail  Fox  addressed  a  paper  "  against 
swearing  "  to  the  grand  and  petty  juries.] 

This  paper  passing  among  them  from  the  jury  to 
the  justices,  they  presented  it  to  the  Judge;  so  that 
when  we  were  called  before  the  Judge,  he  bade  the 
clerk  give  me  that  paper,  and  then  asked  me  Avhether 
that  seditious  paper  was  mine.  I  said  to  him,  "  If 
they  will  read  it  out  in  open  court,  that  I  may  hear 
it,  if  it  is  mine  I  will  own  it,  and  stand  by  it."  Ho 
would  have  had  me  take  it  and  look  upon  it  in  my 
own  hand;  but  I  again  desired  that  it  might  be  read, 
that  all  the  country  might  hear  it,  and  judge  whether 
there  was  any  sedition  in  it  or  not;  for  if  there  were, 
I  was  willing  to  suffer  for  it. 


248         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

At  last  the  clerk  of  the  assize  read  it,  with  an  audi- 
ble voice,  that  all  the  people  might  hear  it.  When 
he  had  done  I  told  them  it  was  my  paper;  that  I 
would  own  it,  and  so  might  they  too,  unless  they 
would  deny  the  Scripture:  for  was  not  this  Scrip- 
ture language,  and  the  words  and  commands  of 
Christ,  and  the  Apostle,  which  all  true  Christians 
ought  to  obey? 

Then  they  let  fall  that  subject;  and  the  Judge  fell 
upon  us  about  our  hats  again,  bidding  the  jailer  take 
them  off;  which  he  did,  and  gave  them  to  us;  and  we 
put  them  on  again.  Then  we  asked  the  Judge  and 
the  justices,  for  what  cause  we  had  lain  in  prison 
these  nine  weeks,  seeing  they  now  objected  to 
nothing  but  our  hats.  And  as  for  putting  off  our 
hats,  I  told  them  that  that  was  the  honour  which 
God  would  lay  in  the  dust,  though  they  made  so 
much  ado  about  it;  the  honour  which  is  of  men,  and 
which  men  seek  one  of  another,  and  is  a  mark  of  im- 
believers.  For  "  How  can  ye  believe,"  saith  Christ, 
"  who  receive  honour  one  of  another,  and  seek  not 
the  honour  that  cometh  from  God  only  ? "  Christ 
saith,  "  I  receive  not  honour  from  men  " ;  and  all  true 
Christians  should  be  of  His  mind. 

Then  the  Judge  began  to  make  a  pompous  speech, 
how  he  represented  the  Lord  Protector's  person,  who 
made  him  Lord  Chief-Justice  of  England,  and  sent 
him  to  come  that  circuit,  etc.  We  desired  him,  then, 
that  he  would  do  us  justice  for  our  false  imprison- 
ment which  we  had  suffered  nine  weeks  wrongfully. 
But  instead  of  that,  they  brought  an  indictment 
framed  against  us;  so  full  of  lies  that  I  thought  it 


A  Visit  to  the  Southern  Counties.  249 


had  been  against  some  of  the  thieves, — "  that  we 
came  by  force  and  arms,  and  in  a  hostile  manner,  into 
the  court  who  were  brought  as  aforesaid.  I  told 
them  it  was  all  false ;  and  still  we  cried  for  justice  for 
our  false  imprisonment,  being  taken  up  in  our  jour- 
ney without  cause  by  Major  Ceely. 

Then  Peter  Ceely  said  to  the  Judge,  "  May  it 
please  you,  my  lord,  this  man  (pointing  to  me)  went 
aside  with  me,  and  told  me  how  serviceable  I  might 
be  for  his  design;  that  he  could  raise  forty  thou- 
sand men  at  an  hour's  warning,  involve  the  nation  in 
blood,  and  so  bring  in  King  Charles.  I  would  have 
aided  him  out  of  the  country,  but  he  would  not  go. 
If  it  please  you,  my  lord,  I  have  a  witness  to  swear 
it." 

So  he  called  upon  his  witness;  but  the  Judge  not 
being  forward  to  examine  the  witness,  I  desired  that 
he  would  be  pleased  to  let  my  mittimus  be  read  in 
the  face  of  the  court  and  the  country,  in  which  the 
crime  was  signified  for  which  I  was  sent  to  prison. 
The  Judge  said  it  should  not  be  read.  I  said,  "  It 
ought  to  be,  seeing  it  concerned  my  liberty  and  my 
life."  The  Judge  said  again,  "  It  shall  not  be  read." 
I  said,  "  It  ought  to  be  read ;  for  if  I  have  done  any- 
thing worthy  of  death,  or  of  bonds,  let  all  the  coim- 
try  know  it." 

Then  seeing  they  would  not  read  it,  I  spoke  to  one 
of  my  fellow-prisoners:  "  Thou  hast  a  copy  of  it; 
read  it  up."  "  It  shall  not  be  read,"  said  the  Judge; 
"  jailer,  take  him  away.  I'll  see  whether  he  or  I  shall 
be  master." 

So  I  was  taken  away,  and  awhile  after  called  for 


250         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

again.  I  still  called  to  have  the  mittimus  read;  for 
that  signified  the  cause  of  my  commitment.  I  again 
spoke  to  the  Friend,  my  fellow-prisoner,  to  read  it 
up;  which  he  did.  The  Judge,  justices,  and  the  whole 
court  were  silent ;  for  the  people  were  eager  to  hear 
it.   It  was  as  followeth: 

"  Peter  Ceely,  one  of  the  justices  of  the  peace  of  this 
county,  to  the  keeper  of  His  Highness's  jail  at 
Launceston,  or  his  lawful  deputy  in  that  behalf, 
greeting : 

"  I  send  you  here  withal  by  the  bearers  hereof, 
the  bodies  of  Edward  Pyot,  of  Bristol,  and  George 
Fox,  of  Drayton-in-the-Clay,  in  Leicestershire,  and 
William  Salt,  of  London,  which  they  pretend  to  be 
the  places  of  their  habitations,  who  go  under  the 
notion  of  Quakers,  and  acknowledge  themselves  to  be 
such;  who  have  spread  several  papers  tending  to  the 
disturbance  of  the  public  peace,  and  cannot  render 
any  lawful  cause  of  coming  into  those  parts,  being 
persons  altogether  unknown,  having  no  pass  for 
travelling  up  and  down  the  country,  and  refusing  to 
give  sureties  for  their  good  behaviour,  according  to 
the  law  in  that  behalf  provided;  and  refuse  to  take 
oath  of  abjuration,  etc.  These  are,  therefore,  in  the 
name  of  his  highness  the  Lord  Protector,  to  will  and 
command  you,  that  when  the  bodies  of  the  said  Ed- 
ward Pyot,  George  Fox,  and  William  Salt,  shall  be 
unto  you  brought,  you  them  receive,  and  in  His 
Highness's  prison  aforesaid  you  safely  keep  them, 
until  by  due  course  of  law  they  shall  be  delivered. 


A  Visit  to  the  Southern  Counties.  251 

Hereof  fail  you  not,  as  you  will  answer  the  contrary 
at  your  perils.  Given  under  my  hand  and  seal,  at 
St.  Ives,  the  18th  day  of  January,  1655. 

"  P.  Ceely." 

When  it  was  read  I  spoke  thus  to  the  Judge  and 
justices : 

"  Thou  that  sayest  thou  art  Chief -Justice  of  Eng- 
land, and  you  justices,  know  that,  if  I  had  put  in 
sureties,  I  might  have  gone  whither  I  pleased,  and 
have  carried  on  the  design  (if  I  had  had  one)  with 
which  Major  Ceely  hath  charged  me.  And  if  I  had 
spoken  those  words  to  him,  which  he  hath  here  de- 
clared, judge  ye  whether  bail  or  mainprize  could  have 
been  taken  in  that  case." 

Then,  turning  my  speech  to  Major  Ceely,  I  said: 

"  When  or  where  did  I  take  thee  aside  ?  Was  not 
thy  house  full  of  rude  people,  and  thou  as  rude  as 
any  of  them,  at  our  examination ;  so  that  I  asked  for 
a  constable  or  some  other  oflBcer.to  keep  the  people 
civil  ?  But  if  thou  art  my  accuser,  why  sittest  thou 
on  the  bench?  It  is  not  the  place  of  accusers  to  sit 
with  the  judge.  Thou  oughtest  to  come  down  and 
stand  by  me,  and  look  me  in  the  face. 

"  Besides,  I  would  ask  the  Judge  and  justices 
whether  Major  Ceely  is  not  guilty  of  this  treason, 
which  he  charges  against  me,  in  concealing  it  so  long 
as  he  hath  done  ?  Does  he  understand  his  place, 
either  as  a  soldier  or  a  justice  of  the  peace  ?  For  he 
tells  you  here  that  I  went  aside  v^ith  him,  and  told 
him  what  a  design  I  had  in  hand,  and  how  serviceable 
he  might  be  for  my  design:  that  I  could  raise  forty 


252         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


thousand  men  in  an  hour's  time,  bring  in  King 
Charles,  and  involve  the  nation  in  blood.  He  saith, 
moreover,  that  he  would  have  aided  me  out  of  the 
country,  but  I  would  not  go;  and  therefore  he  com- 
mitted me  to  prison  for  want  of  sureties  for  the  good 
behaviour,  as  the  mittimus  declares. 

Xow,  do  you  not  see  plainly  that  Major  Ceely 
is  guilty  of  this  plot  and  treason  he  talks  of,  and  hath 
made  himself  a  party  to  it  by  desiring  me  to  go  out 
of  the  country,  demanding  bail  of  me,  and  not  charg- 
ing me  with  this  pretended  treason  till  now,  nor  dis- 
covering it  ?  But  I  deny  and  abhor  his  words,  and 
am  innocent  of  his  devilish  design." 

So  that  business  was  let  fall;  for  the  Judge  saw 
clearly  enough  that  instead  of  ensnaring  me.  Major 
Ceely  had  ensnared  himself. 

Major  Ceely  got  up  again,  and  said,  "  If  it  please 
you,  my  lord,  to  hear  me:  tliis  man  struck  me,  and 
gave  me  such  a  blow  as  I  never  had  in  my  life."  At 
this  I  smiled  in  my  heart,  and  said,  "  Major  Ceely, 
art  thou  a  justice  of  the  peace,  and  a  major  of  a  troop 
of  horse,  and  tellest  the  Judge,  in  the  face  of  the 
court  and  coimtry,  that  I,  a  prisoner,  struck  thee 
and  gave  thee  such  a  blow  as  thou  never  hadst  the 
like  in  thy  life  ?  What !  art  thou  not  ashamed  ? 
Prithee,  Major  Ceely,"  said  I,  "  where  did  I  strike 
thee  ?  and  who  is  thy  witness  for  that  ?  who  was 

by?" 

He  said  it  was  in  the  Castle-Green,  and  Captain 
Bradden  was  standing  by  when  I  struck  him.  I  de- 
sired the  Judge  to  let  him  prodiice  his  witness  for 
that;  and  called  again  upon  Major  Ceely  to  come 


A  Visit  to  the  Southern  Counties.  253 

down  from  the  bench,  telling  him  that  it  was  not  fit 
that  the  accuser  should  sit  as  judge  over  the  accused. 
When  I  called  again  for  his  witness  he  said  that  Cap- 
tain Bradden  was  his  witness. 

Then  I  said,  "  Speak,  Captain  Bradden,  didst  thou 
see  me  give  him  such  a  blow,  and  strike  him  as  he 
saith  ? "  Captain  Bradden  made  no  answer;  but 
bowed  his  head  towards  me.  I  desired  him  to  speak 
up,  if  he  knew. any  such  thing;  but  he  only  bowed 
his  head  again.  "  l^ay,"  said  I,  "  speak  up,  and  let 
the  court  and  country  hear,  and  let  not  bowing  of 
the  head  serve  the  turn.  If  I  have  done  so,  let  the 
law  be  inflicted  on  me;  I  fear  not  sufferings,  nor 
death  itself,  for  I  am  an  innocent  man  concerning  all 
this  charge." 

But  Captain  Bradden  never  testified  to  it ;  and  the 
Judge,  finding  those  snares  would  not  hold,  cried, 
"Take  him  away,  jailer;  "  and  then,  when  we  were 
taken  away,  he  fined  us  twenty  marks  apiece  for  not 
putting  off  our  hats;  and  sentenced  us  to  be  kept  in 
prison  till  we  paid  it;  so  he  sent  us  back  to  the  jail. 

At  night  Captain  Bradden  came  to  see  us,  and 
seven  or  eight  justices  with  him,  who  were  very  civil 
to  us,  and  told  us  they  believed  neither  the  Judge 
nor  any  in  the  coiirt  gave  credit  to  the  charges  which 
Major  Ceely  had  brought  forward  against  me  in  the 
face  of  the  country.  And  Captain  Bradden  said  that 
Major  Ceely  had  an  intent  to  take  away  my  life  if 
he  could  have  got  another  witness. 

"  But,"  said  I,  "  Captain  Bradden,  why  didst  not 
thou  witness  for  me,  or  against  me,  seeing  Major 
Ceely  produced  thee  for  a  witness,  that  thou  saw  me 


254         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

strike  him  ?  and  when  I  desired  thee  to  speak  either 
for  me  or  against  me,  according  to  what  thou  saw  or 
knew,  thou  wouldst  not  speak." 

"  Why,"  said  he,  "  when  Major  Ceely  and  I  came 
by  you,  as  you  were  walking  in  the  Castle-Green,  he 
put  off  his  hat  to  you,  and  said,  *  How  do  you  do,  Mr. 
Fox?  Your  servant.  Sir.'  Then  you  said  to  him, 
'  Major  Ceely,  take  heed  of  hypocrisy,  and  of  a  rot- 
ten heart:  for  when  came  I  to  be  thy  master,  and 
thou  my  servant  ?  Do  servants  cast  their  masters 
into  prison  ? '  This  was  the  great  blow  he  meant 
you  gave  him." 

Then  I  called  to  mind  that  they  walked  by  us,  and 
that  he  spoke  so  to  me,  and  I  to  him;  which  hypoc- 
risy and  rotten-heartedness  he  manifested  openly, 
when  he  complained  of  this  to  the  Judge  in  open 
court,  and  in  the  face  of  the  country;  and  would 
have  made  them  all  believe  that  I  struck  him  out- 
wardly with  my  hand. 

There  came  also  to  see  us  one  Colonel  Rouse  a  jus- 
tice of  the  peace,  and  a  great  company  with  him.  He 
was  as  full  of  words  and  talk  as  ever  I  heard  any 
man  in  my  life,  so  that  there  was  no  speaking  to  him. 
At  length  I  asked  him  whether  he  had  ever  been  at 
school,  and  knew  what  belonged  to  questions  and 
answers;  (this  I  said  to  stop  him). 

"  At  school!"  said  he,  "  Yes." 

"  At  school !  "  said  the  soldiers;  "  doth  he  say  so 
to  our  colonel,  that  is  a  scholar  ?  " 

"  Then,"  said  I,  "  if  he  be  so,  let  him  be  still  and 
receive  answers  to  what  he  hath  said." 

Then  I  was  moved  to  speak  the  Word  of  life  to 


A  Visit  to  the  Southern  Counties.  255 

him  in  God's  dreadful  power;  which,  came  so  over 
him  that  he  could  not  open  his  mouth.  His  face 
swelled,  and  was  red  like  a  turkey;  his  lips  moved, 
and  he  mumbled  something;  but  the  people  thought 
he  would  have  fallen  down.  I  stepped  up  to  him, 
and  he  said  he  was  never  so  in  his  life  before :  for  the 
Lord's  power  stopped  the  evil  power  in  him;  so  that 
he  was  almost  choked. 

The  man  was  ever  after  very  loving  to  Friends, 
and  not  so  full  of  airy  words  to  us;  though  he  was 
full  of  pride;  but  the  Lord's  power  came  over  him, 
and  the  rest  that  were  with  him. 

Another  time  there  came  an  officer  of  the  army,  a 
very  malicious,  bitter  professor  whom  I  had  known 
in  London.  He  was  full  of  his  airy  talk  also,  and 
spoke  shghtingly  of  the  Light  of  Christ,  and  against 
the  Truth,  and  against  the  Spirit  of  God  being  in 
men,  as  it  was  in  the  apostles'  days;  till  the  power  of 
God,  that  bound  the  evil  in  him,  had  almost  choked 
him  as  it  did  Colonel  Rouse:  for  he  was  so  full  of 
evil  that  he  could  not  speak,  but  blubbered  and  stut- 
tered. But  from  the  time  that  the  Lord's  power 
struck  him  and  came  over  him,  he  was  ever  after 
more  loving  to  us. 

The  assizes  being  over,  and  we  settled  in  prison 
upon  such  a  commitment  that  we  were  not  likely  to 
be  soon  released,  we  broke  off  from  giving  the  jailer 
seven  shillings  a  week  apiece  for  our  horses,  and  seven 
shillings  a  week  for  oiirselves,  and  sent  our  horses 
into  the  country.  Upon  which  he  grew  very  wicked 
and  devilish,  and  put  us  down  into  Doomsdale,  a 


256         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


nasty,  stinking  place,  where  they  used  to  put  mur- 
derers after  they  were  condemned/^ 

The  place  was  so  noisome  that  it  was  observed  few 
that  went  in  did  ever  come  out  again  in  health. 
There  was  no  house  of  office  in  it ;  and  the  excrement 
of  the  prisoners  that  from  time  to  time  had  been  put 
there  had  not  been  carried  out  (as  we  were  told)  for 
many  years.  So  that  it  was  all  like  mire,  and  in  some 
places  to  the  tops  of  the  shoes  in  water  and  urine; 
and  he  would  not  let  us  cleanse  it,  nor  suffer  us  to 
have  beds  or  straw  to  lie  on. 

At  night  some  friendly  people  of  the  town  brought 
us  a  candle  and  a  little  straw;  and  we  burned  a  little 
of  our  straw  to  take  away  the  stink.  The  thieves 
lay  over  our  heads,  and  the  head  jailer  in  a  room  by 
them,  over  our  heads  also.  It  seems  the  smoke  went 
up  into  the  room  where  the  jailer  lay;  which  put  him 
into  such  a  rage  that  he  took  the  pots  of  excrement 
from  the  thieves  and  poured  them  through  a  hole 
upon  our  heads  in  Doomsdale,  till  we  were  so  bespat- 
tered that  we  could  not  touch  ourselves  nor  one  an- 
other. And  the  stink  increased  upon  us;  so  that 
what  with  stink,  and  what  with  smoke,  we  were  al- 
most choked  and  smothered.  We  had  the  stink  un- 
der our  feet  before,  but  now  we  had  it  on  our  heads 
and  backs  also;  and  he  having  quenched  our  straw 


This  description  of  Doomsdale  is  far  from  pleasant 
reading,  but  it  is  a  true  and  faithful  picture  of  a  dun- 
geon in  the  seventeenth  century,  and  because  of  its  his- 
toric importance  it  is  left  exactly  as  it  was  written.  It 
is  no  wonder  the  Quakers  became  prison  reformers. 


A  Visit  to  the  i>!outIiern  Counties.  257 

with  the  filth  he  poured  dowm,  had  made  a  great 
smother  in  the  place.  Moreover,  he  railed  at  us  most 
hideously,  calling  us  hatchet-faced  dogs,  and  such 
strange  names  as  we  had  never  heard  of.  In  this 
manner  we  were  obliged  to  stand  all  night,  for  we 
could  not  sit  down,  the  place  was  so  full  of  filthy 
excrement. 

A  great  while. he  kept  us  after  this  manner  before 
he  would  let  us  cleanse  it,  or  suffer  us  to  have  any 
victuals  brought  in  but  what  we  got  through  the 
grate.  One  time  a  girl  brought  us  a  little  meat;  and 
he  arrested  her  for  breaking  his  house,  and  sued  her 
in  the  town-court  for  breaking  the  prison.  A  great 
deal  of  trouble  he  put  the  young  woman  to ;  whereby 
others  were  so  discouraged  that  we  had  much  ado  to 
get  water,  drink,  or  victuals.  Near  this  time  we  sent 
for  a  young  woman,  Ann  Downer,  from  London,  who 
could  write  and  take  things  well  in  short-hand,  to 
buy  and  dress  our  meat  for  iis;  which  she  was  very 
willing  to  do,  it  being  also  upon  her  spirit  to  come  to 
us  in  the  love  of  God;  and  she  was  very  serviceable 
to  us. 

The  head-jailer,  we  were  informed,  had  been  a 
thief,  and  was  burnt  both  in  the  hand  and  in  the 
shoulder;  his  wife,  too,  had  been  burnt  in  the  hand. 
The  imder-jailer  had  been  burnt  both  in  the  hand 
and  in  the  shoulder:  his  wife  had  been  burnt  in  the 
hand  also.  Colonel  Bennct,  a  Baptist  teacher,  hav- 
ing purchased  the  jail  and  lands  belonging  to  the  cas- 
tle, had  placed  this  head-jailer  there.  The  prisoners 
and  some  wild  people  would  be  talking  of  spirits  that 
haunted  Doomsdale,  and  how  many  had  died  in  it, 


258         George  Fox:  An  Autohiography. 

thinking  perhaps  to  terrify  us  therewith.  But  I  told 
them  that  if  all  the  spirits  and  devils  in  hell  were 
there,  I  was  over  them  in  the  power  of  God,  and 
feared  no  such  thing;  for  Christ,  our  Priest,  would 
sanctify  the  walls  of  the  house  to  us,  He  who  had 
bruised  the  head  of  the  devil/^  The  priest  was  to 
cleanse  the  plague  out  of  the  walls  of  the  house  un- 
der the  law,  which  had  been  ended  by  Christ,  our 
Priest,  who  sanctifies  both  inwardly  and  outwardly 
the  walls  of  the  house,  the  walls  of  the  heart,  and  all 
things  to  his  people. 

By  this  time  the  general  quarter-sessions  drew 
nigh;  and  the  jailer  still  carrying  himself  basely  and 
wickedly  towards  us,  we  drew  up  our  suffering  case, 
and  sent  it  to  the  sessions  at  Bodmin.  On  the  read- 
ing thereof,  the  justices  gave  order  that  Doomsdale 
door  should  be  opened,  and  that  we  should  have  lib- 
erty to  cleanse  it,  and  to  buy  our  meat  in  the  town. 
We  also  sent  a  copy  of  our  sufferings  to  the  Protec- 
tor, setting  forth  how  we  had  been  taken  and  com- 
mitted by  Major  Ceely;  and  abused  by  Captain  Keat 
as  aforesaid,  and  the  rest  in  order.  The  Protector 
sent  down  an  order  to  Captain  Fox,  governor  of 
Pendennis  Castle,  to  examine  the  matter  about  the 
soldiers  abusing  us,  and  striking  me. 

There  were  at  that  time  many  of  the  gentry  of  the 
country  at  the  Castle;  and  Captain  Keat's  kinsman, 
that  struck  me,  was  sent  for  before  them,  and  much 
threatened.  They  told  him  that  if  I  should  change 
my  principles,  I  might  take  the  extremity  of  the 


This  has  the  ring  of  one  of  Luther's  utterances. 


A  Visit  to  the  Southern  Counties.  259 

law  against  him,  and  might  recover  sound  damages 
of  him.  Captain  Keat  also  was  checked,  for  suffer- 
ing the  prisoners  under  his  charge  to  be  abused. 

This  was  of  great  service  in  the  country;  for  af- 
terwards Friends  might  speak  in  any  market  or  stee- 
ple-house thereabouts,  and  none  would  meddle  with 
them.  I  imderstood  that  Hugh  Peters,  one  of  the 
Protector's  chaplains,  told  him  they  could  not  do 
George  Fox  a  greater  service  for  the  spreading  of  his 
principles  in  Cornwall,  than  to  imprison  him  there. 

And  indeed  my  imprisonment  there  was  of  the 
Lord,  and  for  His  service  in  those  parts;  for  after  the 
assizes  were  over,  and  it  was  known  that  we  were 
likely  to  continue  prisoners,  several  Friends  from 
most  parts  of  the  nation  came  in  to  the  country  to 
visit  us.  Those  parts  of  the  west  were  very  dark 
countries  at  that  time;  but  the  Lord's  light  and  truth 
broke  forth,  shone  over  all,  and  many  were  turned 
from  darkness  to  light,  and  from  Satan's  power  unto 
God.  Many  were  moved  to  go  to  the  steeple-houses ; 
and  several  were  sent  to  prison  to  us;  and  a  great 
convincement  began  in  the  country.  For  now  we 
had  liberty  to  come  out,  and  to  walk  in  the  Castle- 
Green;  and  many  came  to  us  on  First-days,  to  whom 
we  declared  the  Word  of  life. 

Great  service  we  had  among  them,  and  many  were 
turned  to  God,  up  and  down  the  country;  but  great 
rage  possessed  the  priests  and  professors  against 
the  Truth  and  us.  One  of  the  envious  profes- 
sors had  collected  many  Scripture  sentences  to 
prove  that  we  ought  to  put  off  our  hats  to 
the  people;   and  he  invited  the  town  of  Launces- 


260         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

ton  to  come  into  the  castle-yard  to  hear  him 
read  them.  Amongst  other  instances  that  he  there 
brought,  one  was  that  Sanl  bowed  to  the  witch  of 
Endor.  When  he  had  done,  we  got  a  little  liberty  to 
speak;  and  we  showed  both  him  and  the  people  that 
Saul  was  gone  from  God,  and  had  disobeyed  God 
when  he  went  to  the  witch  of  Endor:  that  neither  the 
prophets,  nor  Christ,  nor  the  apostles  ever  taught 
people  to  bow  to  a  witch. 

Another  time,  about  eleven  at  night,  the  jailer, 
being  half  drunk,  came  and  told  me  that  he  had  got 
a  man  now  to  dispute  with  me:  (this  was  when  we 
had  leave  to  go  a  little  into  the  town).  As  soon  as 
he  spoke  these  words  I  felt  there  was  mischief  in- 
tended to  my  body.  All  that  night  and  the  next  day 
I  lay  down  on  a  grass-plot  to  slumber,  and  felt  some- 
thing still  aboiit  my  body:  I  started  up,  and  struck 
at  it  in  the  power  of  the  Lord,  and  still  it  was  about 
my  body. 

Then  I  rose  and  walked  into  the  Castle-Green,  and 
the  under-keeper  came  and  told  me  that  there  was  a 
maid  would  speak  with  me  in  the  prison.  I  felt  a 
snare  in  his  words,  too,  therefore  I  went  not  into  the 
prison,  but  to  the  grate ;  and  looking  in,  I  saw  a  man 
that  was  lately  brought  to  prison  for  being  a  con- 
jurer, who  had  a  naked  knife  in  his  hand.  I  spoke  to 
him,  and  he  threatened  to  cut  my  chaps;  but,  being 
within  the  jail  he  could  not  come  at  me.  This  was 
the  jailer's  great  disputant. 

I  went  soon  after  into  the  jailer's  house,  and  found 
him  at  breakfast;  he  had  then  got  his  conjurer  out 


A  Visit  to  the  Southern  Counties.  261 

with  him.  I  told  the  jailer  his  plot  was  discovered. 
Then  he  got  up  from  the  table,  and  cast  his  napkin 
away  in  a  rage;  and  I  left  them,  and  went  to  my 
chamber;  for  at  this  time  we  were  out  of  Doomsdale. 

At  the  time  the  jailer  had  said  the  dispute  should 
be,  I  went  down  and  walked  in  the  court  (the  place 
appointed)  till  about  the  eleventh  hour;  but  nobody 
came.  Then  I  went  up  to  my  chamber  again;  and 
after  awhile  heard  one  call  for  me.  I  stepped  to  the 
stairshead,  where  I  saw  the  jailer's  wife  upon  the 
stairs,  and  the  conjurer  at  the  bottom  of  the  stairs, 
holding  his  hand  behind  his  back,  and  in  a  great  rage. 

I  asked  him,  "  Man,  what  hast  thou  in  thy  hand 
behind  thy  back  ?  Pluck  thy  hand  before  thee,"  said 
I;  "  let's  see  thy  hand,  and  what  thou  hast  in  it." 

Then  he  angrily  plucked  forth  his  hand,  with  a 
naked  knife  in  it.  I  showed  the  jailer's  wife  their 
wicked  design  against  me ;  for  this  was  the  man  they 
brought  to  dispute  of  the  things  of  God.  But  the 
Lord  discovered  their  plot,  and  prevented  their  evil 
design;  and  they  both  raged,  and  the  conjurer  threat- 
ened. 

Then  I  was  moved  of  the  Lord  to  speak  sharply 
to  him  in  the  dreadful  power  of  the  Lord;  and  the 
Lord's  power  came  over  him,  and  bound  him  down; 
so  that  he  never  after  durst  appear  before  me,  to 
speak  to  me.  I  saw  it  was  the  Lord  alone  that  had 
preserved  me  out  of  their  bloody  hands;  for  the  devil 
had  a  great  enmity  to  me,  and  stirred  up  his  instru- 
ments to  seek  my  hurt.    But  the  Lord  prevented 


262 


George  Fox:  An  Autobioyniphy, 


them;  and  my  heart  was  filled  with  thanksgivings 
and  praises  to  him.^' 

In  Cornwall,  Devonshire,  Dorsetshire,  and  Somer- 
setshire, Truth  began  mightily  to  spread.  Many 
were  turned  to  Christ  Jesus  and  His  free  teaching: 
for  many  Friends  that  came  to  visit  us  were  drawn  to 
declare  the  Truth  in  those  counties.  This  made  the 
priests  and  professors  rage,  and  they  stirred  up  the 
magistrates  to  ensnare  Friends.  They  set  up  watches 
in  the  streets  and  highways,  on  pretence  of  taking 
up  suspicious  persons,  under  which  colour  they 
stopped  and  took  up  Friends  coming  to  visit  us  in 
prison;  which  was  done  that  these  Friends  might  not 
pass  up  and  down  in  the  Lord's  service. 

But  that  by  which  they  thought  to  have  stopped 
the  Truth  was  the  means  of  spreading  it  so  much  the 
more;  for  then  Friends  were  frequently  moved  to 
speak  to  one  constable  and  to  another  officer,  and  to 
the  justices  before  whom  they  were  brought;  which 
caused  the  Truth  to  spread  the  more  in  all  their  par- 
ishes.    And  when  Friends  were  got  among  the 


"  The  14th  of  May,  1656,  Edward  Pyot,  Fox's  fellow 
prisoner,  wrote  a  long  letter  to  John  Glyn,  Chief  Jus- 
tice of  England,  in  which  he  showed  that  they  were 
suffering  contrary  to  law.  George  Fox  himself,  as  his 
custom  was,  spent  much  of  his  time  of  imprisonment 
writing  letters  and  religious  epistles.  Here  is  a  sound 
word  of  advice  from  his  Epistle  to  "  Friends  ":  "  Be 
patterns,  be  examples  in  all  countries,  places,  islands, 
nations,  wherever  you  come,  that  your  life  and  conduct 
may  preach  among  all  sorts  of  people  and  to  them." 


A  Visit  to  the  Southern  Counties.  263 

watclies,  it  would  be  a  fortnight  or  three  weeks  be- 
fore they  could  get  out  of  them  again;  for  no  sooner 
had  one  constable  taken  and  carried  them  before  the 
justices,  and  these  had  discharged  them,  but  another 
would  take  them  up  and  carry  them  before  other 
justices:  which  put  the  country  to  a  great  deal  of 
needless  trouble  and  charges. 

As  Thomas  Rawlinson  was  coming  out  of  the 
north  to  visit  us,  a  constable  in  Devonshire  took  him 
up,  and  at  night  took  twenty  shillings  out  of  his 
pocket:  and  after  being  thus  robbed  he  was  cast  into 
Exeter  jail.  They  cast  into  prison  in  Devonshire, 
imder  pretence  of  his  being  a  Jcsiiit,  Henry  Pollex- 
fen,  who  had  been  a  justice  of  the  peace  for  almost 
forty  years.  Many  Friends  were  cruelly  beaten  by 
them;  nay,  some  clothiers  that  were  but  going  to 
mill  with  their  cloth,  and  others  about  their  outward 
occasions,  they  took  up  and  whipped ;  though  men  of 
about  eighty  or  an  hundred  pounds  by  the  year,  and 
not  above  four  or  five  miles  from  their  families. 

The  mayor  of  Launceston  took  up  all  he  could, 
and  cast  them  into  prison.  He  would  search  sub- 
stantial, grave  women,  their  petticoats  and  their 
head-cloths.  A  young  man  coming  to  sec  us,  I  drew 
up  all  the  gross,  inhuman,  and  unchristian  actions  of 
the  mayor,  gave  it  him,  and  bade  liim  seal  it  up, 
and  go  out  again  the  back  way;  and  then  come  into 
the  to^vn  through  the  gates.  He  did  so,  and  the 
Avatch  took  him  up  and  carried  him  before  the 
mayor;  who  presently  searched  his  pockets  and 
found  the  letter.    Therein  he  saw  all  his  actions 


264         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

characterized;  whicli  shamed  him  so  that  from  that 
time  he  meddled  little  with  the  Lord's  servants. 

While  I  was  in  prison  here,  the  Baptists  and  Fifth- 
monarchy  men  prophesied  that  this  year  Christ 
should  come,  and  reign  upon  earth  a  thousand  years. 
And  they  looked  upon  this  reign  to  be  outward: 
when  He  was  come  inwardly  in  the  hearts  of  His 
people,  to  reign  and  rule;  where  these  professors 
would  not  receive  Him.  So  they  failed  in  their 
prophecy  and  expectation,  and  had  not  the  possession 
of  Him.  But  Christ  is  come,  and  doth  dwell  and 
reign  in  the  hearts  of  His  people.**  Thousands,  at 
the  door  of  whose  hearts  He  hath  been  knocking, 
have  opened  to  Him,  and  He  is  come  in,  and  doth 
sup  with  them,  and  they  with  Him;  the  heavenly 
supper  with  the  heavenly  and  spiritual  man.  So 
many  of  these  Baptists  and  Monarchy-people  turned 
the  greatest  enemies  to  the  followers  of  Christ; 
but  He  reigns  in  the  hearts  of  His  saints  over  all 
their  envy. 

At  the  assize  divers  justices  came  to  us,  and  were 
pretty  civil,  and  reasoned  of  the  things  of  God  so- 
berly; expressing  a  pity  to  us.    Captain  Fox,  gov- 


^*  It  will  be  found  interesting  to  compare  this  brief 
comment  on  the  views  of  the  "  Fifth-monarchy  men  " 
with  CromweH's  treatment  of  them.  See  Speech  II.,  in 
First  Parliament.  Carlyle's  "  Oliver  Cromwell,"  Cen- 
tenary Edition,  Vol.  III.,  p.  113.  The  modern  reader 
will  also  find  it  interesting  to  compare  this  passage 
with  the  present-day  teachings  of  the  "  Second  Com- 
ing." 


A  Visit  to  the  Southern  Counties.  265 

ernor  of  Pendennis  Castle,  came  and  looked  me  in 
the  face,  and  said  never  a  word ;  but  went  to  liis  com- 
pany and  told  them  he  never  saw  a  simpler  man  in 
his  life.  I  called  after  him,  and  said,  "  Stay,  man; 
we  will  see  who  is  the  simpler  man."  But  he  went 
his  way.    A  light,  chaffy  person, 

Thomas  Lower  also  came  to  visit  us,  and  offered 
us  money,  which  we  refused;  accepting  nevertheless 
of  his  love.  He  asked  us  many  questions  concerning 
our  denying  the  Scriptures  to  be  the  Word  of  God; 
concerning  the  sacraments,  and  such  like:  to  all 
which  he  received  satisfaction.  I  spoke  particularly 
to  him;  and  he  afterwards  said  my  words  were  as  a 
flash  of  lightning,  they  ran  so  through  him.  He  said 
he  had  never  met  with  such  men  in  his  life,  for  they 
knew  the  thoughts  of  his  heart;  and  were  as  the  wise 
master-builders  of  the  assemblies  that  fastened  their 
words  like  nails.  He  came  to  be  convinced  of  the 
truth,  and  remains  a  Friend  to  this  day. 

When  he  came  home  to  his  aimt  Hambley's,  where 
he  then  lived,  and  made  report  to  her  concerning  us, 
she,  with  her  sister  Grace  Billing,  hearing  the  report 
of  Truth,  came  to  visit  us  in  prison,  and  was  con- 
vinced also.  Great  sufferings  and  spoiling  of  goods 
both  he  and  his  aunt  have  undergone  for  the  Truth's 
sake. 

After  the  assizes,  the  sheriff,  with  some  soldiers, 
came  to  guard  to  execution  a  woman  that  was  sen- 
tenced to  die;  and  we  had  much  discourse  with.  them. 

^*  This  Thomas  Lower  married  Judge  Fell's  daugh- 
ter, Mary. 


266         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


One  of  them  wickedly  said,  "  Christ  was  as  passion- 
ate a  man  as  any  that  lived  upon  the  earth;  "  for 
which  we  rebuked  him.  Another  time  we  asked  the 
jailer  what  doings  there  were  at  the  sessions;  and 
he  said,  "  Small  matters;  only  about  thirty  for  bas- 
tardy." We  thought  it  very  strange  that  they  who 
professed  themselves  Christians  should  make  small 
matters  of  such  things. 

But  this  jailer  was  very  bad  himself;  I  often  ad- 
monished him  to  sobriety ;  but  he  abused  people  that 
came  to  visit  us.  Edward  Pyot  had  a  cheese  sent 
him  from  Bristol  by  his  wife;  and  the  jailer  took  it 
from  him,  and  carried  it  to  the  mayor,  to  search  it 
for  treasonable  letters,  as  he  said;  and  though  they 
found  no  treason  in  the  cheese,  they  kept  it  from 
us.^^  This  jailer  might  have  been  rich — if  he  had 
carried  himself  civilly;  but  he  sought  his  own  ruin, 
which  soon  after  came  upon  him. 

The  next  year  he  was  turned  out  of  his  place,  and 


^®  This,  however,  was  not  the  last  of  the  cheese.  After 
their  release  they  revisited  Launceston,  as  this  extract 
will  show: 

"  From  Thomas  Mounce's  we  passed  to  Launceston 
again,  and  visited  that  little  remnant  of  Friends  that 
had  been  raised  up  there  while  we  were  in  prison.  The 
Lord's  plants  grew  finely,  and  were  established  on 
Christ,  their  rock  and  foundation.  As  we  were  going 
out  of  town  again,  the  constable  of  Launceston  came 
running  to  us  with  the  cheese  that  had  been  taken  from 
Edward  Pyot;  which  they  had  kept  from  us  all  this 
while,  and  were  tormented  with  it.  But  being  now  set 
at  liberty,  we  would  not  receive  it." 


A  Visit  to  the  Southern  Counties.  267 

for  some  wickedness  cast  into  the  jail  himself;  and 
there  begged  of  our  Friends.  And  for  some  unruli- 
ness  in  his  conduct  he  was,  by  the  succeeding  jailer, 
put  into  Doomsdale,  locked  in  irons,  and  beaten,  and 
bidden  to  remember  how  he  had  abused  those  good 
men  whom  he  had  wickedly,  without  any  cause,  cast 
into  that  nasty  dungeon;  and  told  that  now  he  de- 
servedly should  suffer  for  his  wickedness;  and  the 
same  measure  he  had  meted  to  others,  should  be 
meted  out  to  himself.  He  became  very  poor,  and 
died  in  prison;  and  his  wife  and  family  came  to 
misery. 

While  I  was  in  prison  in  Launceston,  a  Friend  went 
to  Oliver  Cromwell,  and  offered  himself,  body  for 
body,  to  lie  in  Doomsdale  in  my  stead;  if  he  would 
take  him,  and  let  me  have  liberty.  Which  thing  so 
struck  him,  that  he  said  to  his  great  men  and  coun- 
cil, "  Which  of  you  would  do  as  much  for  me  if  I 
were  in  the  same  condition  ?  "  And  though  he  did 
not  accept  of  the  Friend's  offer,  but  said  he  could 
not  do  it,  for  that  it  was  contrary  to  law,  yet  the 
Truth  thereby  came  mightily  over  him.  A  good 
while  after  this  he  sent  down  Major-General  Des- 
borough,  pretending  to  set  us  at  liberty.  When  he 
came,  he  offered  us  our  liberty  if  we  would  say  we 
would  go  home  and  preach  no  more ;  but  we  could  not 
promise  him.  Then  he  urged  that  we  should  promise 
to  go  home,  if  the  Lord  permitted. 

After  this     Major-General  Desborough  came  to 


^'  Both  Edward  Pyot  and  George  Fox  had  written 
letters  to  Major-General  Desborough,  showing  that 


268         George  Fox:  An  Autohiography. 


the  Castle-Green,  and  played  at  bowls  with  tlie  jus- 
tices and  others.  Several  Friends  were  moved  to  go 
and  admonish  them  not  to  spend  their  time  so  vainly, 
desiring  them  to  consider,  that  though  they  professed 
themselves  to  be  Christians,  yet  they  gave  themselves 
up  to  their  pleasures,  and  kept  the  servants  of  God 
meanwhile  in  prison;  and  telling  them  that  the  Lord 
would  plead  with  them  and  visit  them  for  such 
things.  But  notwithstanding  what  was  written  or 
said  to  him,  he  went  away,  and  left  us  in  prison. 

We  understood  afterwards  that  he  left  the  business 
to  Colonel  Bennet,  who  had  the  command  of  the  jail. 
For  some  time  after  Bennet  would  have  set  us  at 
liberty  if  we  would  have  paid  his  jailer's  fees.  But 
we  told  him  we  could  give  the  jailer  no  fees,  for  we 
were  innocent  sufferers;  and  how  could  they  expect 
fees  of  us,  who  had  suffered  so  long  wrongfully  ? 
After  a  while  Colonel  Bennet  coming  to  town,  sent 
for  us  to  an  inn,  and  insisted  again  upon  fees,  which 
"we  refused.  At  last  the  power  of  the  Lord  came  so 
over  him,  that  he  freely  set  us  at  liberty  on  the  13th 
day  of  the  Seventh  month,  1G56.  We  had  been  pris- 
oners nine  weeks  at  the  first  assize,  called  the  Lent- 
assize,  which  was  in  the  spring  of  the  year. 


they  were  innocent,  law-abiding  men,  doing  the  Lord's 
work  in  the  world,  and  that  they  could  not  promise  to 
go  home,  it  being  the  free  right  of  an  Englishman  to  go 
where  his  duty  or  his  business  carried  him. 


CHAPTEE  X. 


^Planting  tfje  ^tttJ  in  Walts. 

1656-1657. 

Being  released  from  our  imprisonment,  we  got 
horses,  rode  towards  Humphrey  Lower's,  and  met 
him  upon  the  road.  He  told  us  he  was  much  troubled 
in  his  mind  concerning  us,  and  could  not  rest  at 
home,  but  was  going  to  Colonel  Bennet  to  seek  our 
liberty.  When  we  told  him  we  were  set  at  liberty, 
and  were  going  to  his  house,  he  was  exceeding  glad. 
To  his  house  we  went,  and  had  a  fine,  precious  meet- 
ing; many  were  convinced,  and  turned  by  the  Spirit 
of  the  Lord  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ's  teaching. 

Soon  after  we  came  to  Exeter,  where  many 
Friends  were  in  prison;  and  amongst  the  rest  James 
Nayler.  For  a  little  before  we  were  set  at  liberty, 
J amcs  had  nm  out  into  imaginations,  and  a  company 
with  him,  who  raised  a  great  darkness  in  the  nation. 
He  came  to  Bristol,  and  made  a  disturbance  there.* 


^  Poor  James  Nayler  proved  unable  to  stand  the 
strain  of  this  strenuous  work.  A  fanatical  group  got 
about  him  and  in  a  period  of  evident  aberration  he 
allowed  these  flattering  followers  to  give  him  a  Tri- 
umphal Entry  into  Bristol,  as  Christ,  returned  in  the 
flesh.  Here  is  Carlyle's  account:  "  In  the  month  of 
October,  1655,  there  was  seen  a  strange  sight  at  Bristol 


270         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


From  thence  lie  was  coming  to  Launceston  to  see 
me;  but  was  stopped  by  the  way,  and  imprisoned  at 
Exeter;  as  were  several  others,  one  of  whom,  an  hon- 
est, tender  man,  died  in  prison  there.  His  blood  lieth 
on  the  heads  of  his  persecutors. 

The  night  that  we  came  to  Exeter  I  spoke  with 
James  Nayler:  for  I  saw  he  was  out,  and  wrong,  and 
so  was  his  company.  The  next  day,  being  First-day, 
we  went  to  visit  the  prisoners,  and  had  a  meeting 
with  them  in  the  prison;  but  James  ISTayler,  and  some 
of  them,  could  not  stay  the  meeting.  There  came  a 
corporal  of  horse  into  the  meeting,  who  was  con- 
vinced, and  remained  a  very  good  Friend. 


in  the  West.  A  procession  of  eight  persons:  one  a  man 
on  horseback,  riding  single;  the  others,  men  and 
women,  partly  riding  double,  partly  on  foot,  in  the 
muddiest  highway,  in  the  wettest  weather;  singing,  all 
but  the  single-rider,  at  whose  bridle  splash  and  walk 
two  women: '  Hosannah!  Holy,  holy!  Lord  God  of  Sab- 
aoth!'  .  .  .  The  single-rider  is  a  raw-boned  male 
figure,  '  with  lank  hair  reaching  below  his  cheeks ';  hat 
drawn  close  over  his  brows;  of  abstruse  '  down  look ' 
and  large,  dangerous  jaws,  strictly  closed;  he  sings  not; 
sits  there  covered,  and  is  sung  to  by  the  others,  bare. 
Amid  pouring  deluges  and  mud  knee-deep: '  so  that  the 
rain  ran  in  at  their  necks,  and  they  vented  it  at  their 
hose  and  breeches,'  a  spectacle  to  the  west  of  England 
and  posterity!  Singing  as  above;  answering  no  ques^ 
tions  except  in  song.  At  the  High  Cross,  they  are  laid 
hold  of  by  the  Authorities;  turn  out  to  be  James  Nay^ 
ler  and  Company."  (Carlyle's  "  Oliver  Cromwell's  Let- 
ters and  Speeches."  Vol.  III.,  pp.  223,  224.)  What  he 


Planting  the  Seed  in  Wales.  271 


The  next  day  I  spoke  to  James  Nayler  again;  and 
he  slighted  what  I  said,  was  dark,  and  much  out ;  yet 
he  would  have  come  and  kissed  me.  But  I  said  that 
since  he  had  turned  against  the  power  of  God,  I  could 
not  receive  his  show  of  kindness.  The  Lord  moved 
me  to  slight  him,  and  to  set  the  power  of  God  over 
him.  So  after  I  had  been  warring  with  the  world, 
there  was  now  a  wicked  spirit  risen  amongst  Friends 
to  war  against.    I  admonished  him  and  his  company. 

When  he  was  come  to  London,  his  resisting  the 
power  of  God  in  me,  and  the  Truth  that  was  de- 
clared to  him  by  me,  became  one  of  his  greatest  bur- 
dens. But  he  came  to  see  his  out-going,  and  to  con- 
demn it;  and  after  some  time  he  returned  to  Truth 


needed  was  mental  treatment.  What  he  received  was 
the  harshest  punishment  Parliament  could  devise.  He 
missed  the  death  penalty  by  a  vote  of  82  to  9G.  His 
sentence,  passed  by  Parliament  December  16th,  1656, 
was  to  be  pilloried  for  two  hours,  to  be  whipped  by  the 
hangman  through  the  streets  from  Westminster  to  the 
Old  ICxchange  in  the  city,  to  be  pilloried  again  after 
two  days  for  two  hours  more,  to  have  his  tongue  bored 
through  with  a  red-hot  iron,  and  to  be  branded  in  the 
forehead  with  the  letter  B,  to  be  again  flogged  through 
the  streets  of  Bristol,  and  then  to  be  committed  to 
prison  with  solitary  confinement  and  hard  labor  during 
the  pleasure  of  Parliament.  Poor  James  Nayler! 
His  fall  did  the  Quakers  almost  irreparable  injury 
in  public  estimation.  Fox  had  already  had  an  intima- 
tion of  this  trouble.  As  he  left  James  Nayler  in  Lon- 
don he  wrote:  "As  I  passed  him  I  cast  my  eye  upon 
him  and  a  fear  struck  me  concerning  him." 


272         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


again;  ^  as  in  the  printed  relation  of  bis  repentance, 
condemnation,  and  recovery  may  be  more  fully  seen. 

On  First-day  moniing  I  went  to  tbe  meeting  in 
Broadmead  at  Bristol,  wbieb  was  large  and  quiet. 
Notice  was  given  of  a  meeting  to  be  in  the  afternoon 
in  the  orchard. 

There  was  at  Bristol  a  rude  Baptist,  named  Paul 
Gwin,  who  had  before  made  great  disturbance  in  our 
meetings,  being  encouraged  and  set  on  by  the  mayor, 
who,  it  was  reported,  would  sometimes  give  him  his 
dinner  to  encourage  him.  Such  multitudes  of  rude 
people  he  gathered  after  him,  that  it  was  thought 
there  had  been  sometimes  ten  thousand  people  at  our 
meeting  in  the  orchard. 

As  I  was  going  into  the  orchard,  the  people  told 
me  that  Paul  Gwin  was  going  to  the  meeting.  I  bade 
them  never  heed,  for  it  was  nothing  to  me  who  went 
to  it. 


*  His  death  came  not  long  after  his  awful  punish- 
ment, and  just  before  the  end  of  life  he  wrote  these 
words: 

"  There  is  a  spirit  which  I  feel,  which  delights  to  do 
no  evil,  nor  to  revenge  any  wrong;  but  delights  to  en- 
dure all  things,  in  hope  to  enjoy  its  own  in  the  end.  Its 
hope  is  to  outlive  all  wrath  and  contention,  and  to 
weary  out  all  exaltation  and  cruelty,  or  whatever  is  of 
a  nature  contrary  to  itself.  It  sees  to  the  end  of  all 
temptations;  as  it  bears  no  evil  in  itself,  so  it  conceives 
none  in  thought  to  any  other.  If  it  be  betrayed,  it  bears 
it;  for  its  ground  and  spring  is  the  mercy  and  forgive- 
ness of  God.  Its  crown  is  meekness;  its  life  is  everlast- 
ing love  unfeigned.   It  takes  its  kingdom  with  entreaty, 


Planting  the  Seed  in  Wales.  273 


When  I  was  come  into  the  orchard,  I  stood  upon 
the  stone  that  Friends  used  to  stand  on  when  they 
spoke;  and  I  was  moved  of  the  Lord  to  put  off  my 
hat,  and  to  stand  a  while,  and  let  the  people  look  at 
me;  for  some  thousands  of  people  were  there.  While 
I  thus  stood  silent,  this  rude  Baptist  began  to  find 
fault  with  my  hair;  but  I  said  nothing  to  him.  Then 
he  ran  on  into  words;  and  at  last,  "  Ye  wise  men  of 
Bristol,"  said  he,  "  I  marvel  at  you,  that  you  will 
stand  here,  and  hear  a  man  speak  and  affirm  that 
which  he  cannot  make  good." 

Then  the  Lord  opened  my  mouth  (for  as  yet  I  had 
not  spoken  a  word),  and  I  asked  the  people  whether 
they  had  ever  heard  me  speak,  or  had  ever  seen  me 
before;  and  I  bade  them  take  notice  what  kind  of 
man  this  ivas  amongst  them  that  should  so  impu- 
dently say  that  I  spoke  and  affirmed  that  which  I 


and  not  with  contention,  and  keeps  it  by  lowliness  of 
mind.  In  God  alone  it  can  rejoice,  though  none  else 
regard  it,  or  can  own  its  life.  It  is  conceived  in  sorrow, 
and  brought  forth  without  any  to  pity  it;  nor  doth  it 
murmur  at  grief  and  oppression.  It  never  rejoiceth, 
but  through  sufferings;  for  with  the  world's  joy  it  is 
murdered.  I  found  it  alone;  being  forsaken.  I  have 
fellowship  therein,  with  those  who  lived  in  dens  and 
desolate  places  in  the  earth;  who  through  death  ob- 
tained this  resurrection,  and  eternal,  holy  life!  " 

See  also  "  James  Nayler's  answer  to  the  Fanatick 
History  as  far  as  it  relates  to  him." 

The  wild  extreme  to  which  Nayler  went  had  a  very 
sobering  effect  on  the  Friends  themselves. 


274         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

could  not  make  good;  and  yet  neither  he  nor  they 
had  ever  heard  me  or  seen  me  before.  Therefore 
that  was  a  lying,  envious,  malicious  spirit  that  spoke 
in  him;  and  it  was  of  the  devil,  and  not  of  God.  I 
charged  him  in  the  dread  and  power  of  the  Lord  to 
be  silent:  and  the  mighty  power  of  God  came  over 
him,  and  all  his  company. 

Then  a  glorious,  peaceable  meeting  we  had,  and  the 
Word  of  life  was  divided  amongst  them;  and  they 
were  turned  from  darkness  to  the  Light, — to  Jesus 
their  Saviour.  The  Scriptures  were  largely  opened  to 
them;  and  the  traditions,  rudiments,  ways,  and  doc- 
trines of  men  were  laid  open  before  the  people;  and 
they  were  turned  to  the  Light  of  Christ,  that  with  it 
they  miglit  see  these  things,  and  see  Him  to  lead 
them  out  of  them. 

I  opened  also  to  them  the  types5,  figures,  and 
shadows  of  Christ  in  the  time  of  the  law;  and  showed 
them  that  Christ  was  come,  and  had  ended  the  types, 
shadows,  tithes,  and  oaths,  and  put  down  swearing; 
and  had  set  up  yea  and  nay  instead  of  it,  and  a  free 
ministry.  For  He  was  now  come  to  teach  the  people 
Himself,  and  His  heavenly  day  was  springing  from 
on  high. 

For  many  hours  did  I  declare  the  Word  of  life 
amongst  them  in  the  eternal  power  of  God,  that  by 
Him  they  might  come  up  into  the  beginning,  and  be 
reconciled  to  Him.  And  having  turned  them  to  the 
Spirit  of  God  in  themselves,  that  would  lead  into  all 
Truth,  I  was  moved  to  pray  in  the  mighty  power  of 
God;  and  the  Lord's  power  came  over  all.  When  I 
had  done,  this  fellow  began  to  babble  again ;  and  John 


Planting  the  Seed  in  Wales.  275 


Audland  was  moved  to  bid  him  repent,  and  fear  God. 
So  his  own  people  and  followers  being  ashamed  of 
him,  he  passed  away,  and  never  came  again  to  dis- 
turb the  meeting.  The  meeting  broke  up  quietly, 
and  the  Lord's  power  and  glory  shone  over  all:  a 
blessed  day  it  was,  and  the  Lord  had  the  praise. 
After  a  while  this  Paul  Gwin  went  beyond  the  seas; 
and  many  years  after  I  met  him  in  Barbadoes. 

Soon  after  we  rode  to  London.  When  we  came 
near  Hyde  Park  we  saw  a  great  concourse  of  people, 
and,  looking  towards  them,  espied  the  Protector  com- 
ing in  his  coach.  Whereupon  I  rode  to  his  coach 
side.  Some  of  his  life-guard  would  have  put  me 
away;  but  he  forbade  them.  So  I  rode  by  his  coach 
side  with  him,  declaring  what  the  Lord  gave  me  to 
say  to  him,  of  his  condition,  and  of  the  sufferings  of 
Friends  in  the  nation,  showing  him  how  contrary  this 
persecution  was  to  the  words  of  Christ  and  His  apos- 
tles, and  to  Christianity. 

When  we  were  come  to  James's  Park  Gate,  I  left 
him;  and  at  parting  he  desired  me  to  come  to  his 
house.  The  next  day  one  of  his  wife's  maids,  whose 
name  was  Mary  Sanders,  came  to  me  at  my  lodging, 
and  told  me  that  her  master  came  to  her,  and  said  he 
would  tell  her  some  good  news.  When  she  asked 
him  what  it  was,  he  told  her,  "  George  Fox  is  come 
to  town."  She  replied  "  That  is  good  news  indeed  " 
(for  she  had  received  Truth),  but  she  said  she  could 
hardly  believe  him  till  he  told  her  how  I  met  him, 
and  rode  from  Hyde  Park  to  James's  Park  with 
him. 

After  a  little  time  Edward  Pyot  and  I  went  to 


276         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

Whitehall  to  see  Oliver  Cromwell;  and  when  we 
came  before  him,  Dr.  Owen,  vice-chancellor  of  Ox- 
ford, was  with  him.  We  were  moved  to  speak  to  him 
concerning  the  sufferings  of  Friends,  and  laid  them 
before  him:  and  we  directed  him  to  the  Light  of 
Christ,  who  had  enlightened  every  man  that  cometh. 
into  the  world.  He  said  it  was  a  natural  light;  but 
we  showed  him  the  contrary;  and  proved  that  it  was 
divine  and  spiritual,  proceeding  from  Christ  the  spir- 
itual and  heavenly  man;  and  that  that  which  was 
called  the  life  in  Christ  the  Word,  was  called  the 
Light  in  us. 

The  power  of  the  Lord  God  arose  in  me,  and  I 
was  moved  in  it  to  bid  him  lay  down  his  crown  at  the 
feet  of  Jesus.  Several  times  I  spoke  to  him  to  the 
same  effect.  I  was  standing  by  the  table,  and  he 
came  and  sat  upon  the  table's  side  by  me,  saying  he 
would  be  as  high  as  I  was.  So  he  continued  speaking 
against  the  Light  of  Christ  Jesus;  and  went  his  way 
in  a  light  manner.  But  the  Lord's  power  came  over 
him  so  that  when  he  came  to  his  wife  and  other  com- 
pany, he  said,  "  I  never  parted  so  from  them 
before  " ;  for  he  was  judged  in  himself. 

After  this  I  travelled  into  Yorkshire,  and  returned 
out  of  Holderness,  over  Humber,  visiting  Friends; 
and  then  returning  into  Leicestershire,  Staffordshire, 
Worcestershire,  and  Warwickshire,  among  Friends, 
I  had  a  meeting  at  Edge-Hill.  There  came  to  it 
Ranters,  Baptists,  and  several  sorts  of  rude  people; 
for  I  had  sent  word  about  three  weeks  before  to  have 
a  meeting  there,  so  that  hundreds  of  people  were 
gathered  thither,  and  many  Friends  came  to  it  from 


Planting  the  Seed  in  Wales. 


277 


afar.  The  Lord's  everlasting  Truth  and  Word  of  life 
reached  over  all;  the  nide  and  unruly  spirits  were 
chained  down ;  and  many  that  day  were  turned  to  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  by  His  power  and  Spirit,  and  came 
to  sit  xmder  His  blessed,  free  teaching,  and  to  be  fed 
with  His  eternal,  heavenly  food.  All  was  peaceable ; 
the  people  passed  quietly  away,  and  some  of  them 
said  it  was  a  mighty,  powerful  meeting;  for  the  pres- 
ence of  the  Lord  was  felt,  and  His  power  and  Spirit 
was  amongst  them. 

Thence  I  passed  to  Warwick  and  to  Bagley,  having 
precious  meetings;  and  then  into  Gloucestershire, 
and  so  to  Oxford,  where  the  scholars  were  very  rude ; 
but  the  Lord's  power  came  over  them.  Great  meet- 
ings we  had  as  we  travelled  up  and  down. 

Thus  having  travelled  over  most  of  the  nation,  I 
returned  to  London  again,  having  cleared  myself  of 
that  which  lay  upon  me  from  the  Lord.  For  after  I 
was  released  out  of  Laimceston  jail,  I  was  moved  of 
the  Lord  to  travel  over  the  nation,  the  Truth  being 
now  spread  in  most  places,  that  I  might  answer,  and 
remove  o\it  of  the  minds  of  the  people,  some  objec- 
tions which  the  envious  priests  and  professors  had 
raised  and  spread  abroad  concerning  us. 

In  this  year  the  Lord's  Truth  was  finely  planted 
over  the  nation,  and  many  thousands  were  turned  to 
the  Lord;  insomuch  that  there  were  seldom  fewer 
than  one  thousand  in  prison  in  this  nation  for  Truth's 
testimony;  some  for  tithes,  some  for  going  to  the 
steeple-houses,  some  for  contempts  (as  they  called 
them),  some  for  not  swearing,  and  others  for  not  put- 
ting off  their  hats. 


278         George  Fox:  An  Autohiography. 


Having  stayed  some  time  in  London,  and  visited 
the  meetings  of  Friends  in  and  about  the  city,  and 
cleared  myself  of  what  services  the  Lord  had  at  that 
time  laid  upon  me  there,  I  left  the  town  and  travelled 
into  Kent,  Sussex,  and  Surrey,  visiting  Friends.  I 
had  great  meetings,  and  often  met  with  opposition 
from  Baptists  and  other  jangling  professors;  but  the 
Lord's  power  went  over  them. 

We  lay  one  night  at  Farnham,  where  we  had  a  lit- 
tle meeting.  The  people  were  exceeding  rude;  but 
at  last  the  Lord's  power  came  over  them.  After 
meeting  we  went  to  our  inn,  and  gave  notice  that  any 
who  feared  God  might  come  to  our  inn  to  us.  There 
came  abundance  of  rude  people,  the  magistrates  of 
the  town,  and  some  professors.  I  declared  the  Truth 
to  them;  and  those  people  that  behaved  themselves 
rudely,  the  magistrates  put  out  of  the  room. 

When  they  were  gone,  another  rude  company  of 
professors  came  up,  and  some  of  the  chief  of  the 
town.  They  called  for  faggots  and  drink,  though  we 
forbade  them,  and  were  as  rude  a  people  as  ever  I 
met.  The  Lord's  power  chained  them,  that  they  had 
not  power  to  do  us  any  mischief;  but  when  they  went 
away  they  left  all  the  faggots  and  beer,  for  which 
they  had  called,  in  the  room,  for  us  to  pay  for  in  the 
morning.  We  showed  the  innkeeper  what  an  un- 
worthy thing  it  was;  but  he  told  us  we  must  pay  it; 
and  pay  it  we  did. 

Before  we  left  the  town  I  wrote  to  the  magistrates 
and  heads  of  the  town,  and  to  the  priest,  showing 
them  how  he  had  taught  his  people,  and  laying  before 


Planting  the  Seed  in  Wales.  279 


them  their  rude  and  uncivil  carriage  to  strangers  that 
sought  their  good. 

Leaving  that  place  we  came  to  Basingstoke,  a  very 
rude  town;  where  they  had  formerly  very  much 
abused  Friends.  There  I  had  a  meeting  in  the  even- 
ing, which  was  quiet;  for  the  Lord's  power  chained 
the  unruly.  At  the  close  of  the  meeting  I  was  moved 
to  put  off  my  hat  and  to  pray  to  the  Lord  to  open 
their  understandings;  upon  which  they  raised  a 
report  that  I  put  off  my  hat  to  them  and  bade  them 
good  night,  which  was  never  in  my  heart. 

After  the  meeting,  when  we  came  to  our  inn,  I 
sent  for  the  innkeeper,  as  I  was  used  to  do;  and  he 
came  into  the  room  to  us,  and  showed  himself  a  very 
rude  man.  I  admonished  him  to  be  sober,  and  fear 
the  Lord;  but  he  called  for  faggots  and  a  pint  of 
wine,  and  drank  it  off  himself;  then  called  for  an- 
other, and  called  up  half  a  dozen  men  into  our  cham- 
ber. Thereupon  I  bade  him  go  out  of  the  chamber, 
and  told  him  he  should  not  drink  there;  for  we  called 
him  up  to  speak  to  him  concerning  his  eternal  good. 

He  was  exceeding  mad,  rude,  and  drunk.  When 
he  continued  his  rudeness  and  would  not  be  gone,  I 
told  him  that  the  chamber  was  mine  for  the  time  I 
lodged  in  it;  and  called  for  the  key.  Then  he  went 
away  in  a  rage.  In  the  morning  he  would  not  be 
seen;  but  I  told  his  wife  of  his  unchristian  carriage 
towards  us. 

We  then  travelled  to  Exeter ;  and  at  the  sign  of  the 
Seven  Stars,  an  inn  at  the  bridge  foot,  had  a  general 
meeting  of  Friends  out  of  Cornwall  and  Devonshire; 
to  which  camo  Humphrey  Lower,  Thomas  Lower, 


280         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography, 

and  John  Ellis  from  the  Land's  End;  Henry  Pollex- 
fen,  and  Friends  from  Plymouth;  Elizabeth  Tre- 
lawny,  and  divers  other  Friends.  A  blessed  heavenly 
meeting  we  had,  and  the  Lord's  everlasting  power 
came  over  all,  in  which  I  saw  and  said  that  the  Lord's 
power  had  surrounded  this  nation  round  about  as 
with  a  wall  and  bulwark,  and  His  seed  reached  from 
sea  to  sea.  Friends  were  established  in  the  everlast- 
ing Seed  of  life,  Christ  Jesus,  their  Life,  Rock, 
Teacher,  and  Shepherd. 

Xext  morning  Major  Blackmore  sent  soldiers  to 
apprehend  me ;  but  I  was  gone  before  they  came.  As 
I  was  riding  up  the  street  I  saw  the  officers  going 
down;  so  the  Lord  crossed  them  in  their  design,  and 
Friends  passed  away  peaceably  and  quietly.  The  sol- 
diers examined  some  Friends  after  I  was  gone,  asking 
them  what  they  did  there;  but  when  they  told  them 
that  they  were  in  their  inn,  and  had  business  in  the 
city,  they  went  away  without  meddling  any  further 
with  them. 

We  passed  through  the  countries,*  having  meet- 
ings, and  gathering  people  in  the  name  of  Christ, 
their  heavenly  teacher,  till  we  came  to  Brecknock, 
where  we  piat  up  our  horses  at  an  inn.  There  went 
with  me  Thomas  Holmes  and  John  ap-John,  who  was 
moved  of  the  Lord  to  speak  in  the  streets.  I  walked 
out  hnt  a  little  into  the  fields;  and  when  I  returned 
the  town  was  in  an  uproar.  When  I  came  into  the 
chamber  in  the  inn,  it  was  full  of  people,  and  they 
were  speaking  in  Welsh.   I  desired  them  to  speak  in 


*In  Wales. 


Planting  the  Seed  in  Wales. 


281 


English,  which  they  did;  and  much  discourse  we  had. 
After  a  while  they  went  away. 

Towards  night  the  magistrates  gathered  in  the 
streets  with  a  multitude  of  people,  and  they  bade 
them  shout,  and  gathered  up  the  town;  so  that,  for 
about  two  hours  together,  there  was  a  noise  the 
Like  of  which  we  had  not  heard;  and  the  magistrates 
set  them  on  to  shout  again  when  they  had  given  over. 
We  thought  it  looked  like  the  uproar  amongst 
Diana's  craftsmen.  This  tumult  continued  till  night, 
and  if  the  Lord's  power  had  not  limited  them,  they 
would  likely  have  pulled  down  the  house,  and  torn 
us  to  pieces. 

At  night  the  woman  of  the  house  would  have  had 
us  go  to  supper  in  another  room ;  but  we,  discerning 
her  plot,  refused.  Then  she  would  have  had  half  a 
dozen  men  come  into  the  room  to  us,  under  the  pre- 
tence of  discoursing  with  us.  We  told  her,  "  No  per- 
son shall  come  into  our  room  this  night,  neither  will 
we  go  to  them."  Then  she  said  we  should  sup  in 
another  room;  but  we  told  her  we  would  have  no 
supper  if  we  had  it  not  in  our  own  room.  At  length, 
when  she  saw  she  could  not  get  us  out,  she  brought 
up  our  supper. 

So  she  and  they  were  crossed  in  their  design;  for 
they  had  an  intent  to  do  us  mischief,  but  the  Lord 
prevented  them.  N'ext  morning  I  wrote  a  paper  to 
the  town  concerning  their  unchristian  carriage,  show- 
ing the  fruits  of  their  priests  and  magistrates;  and  as 
I  passed  out  of  town  I  spoke  to  the  people,  and  told 
them  they  were  a  shame  to  Christianity  and  religion. 

After  this  we  returned  to  England,  and  came  to 


282         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography, 


Shrewsbury,  where  we  had  a  great  meeting,  and 
visited  Friends  all  over  the  countries  in  their  meet- 
ings, till  we  came  to  William  Gaudy's,  in  Cheshire, 
where  we  had  a  meeting  of  between  two  and  three 
thousand  people,  as  it  was  thought;  and  the  everlast- 
ing Word  of  life  was  held  forth,  and  received  that 
day.  A  blessed  meeting  it  was,  for  Friends  were  set- 
tled by  the  power  of  God  upon  Christ  Jesus,  the 
Eock  and  Foundation. 

At  this  time  there  was  a  great  drought;  and  after 
this  general  meeting  was  ended,  there  fell  so  great  a 
rain  that  Friends  said  they  thought  we  could  not 
travel,  the  waters  would  be  so  risen.  But  I  believed 
the  rain  had  not  extended  as  far  as  they  Lad  come 
that  day  to  the  meeting,  ^ext  day,  in  the  afternoon, 
when  we  turned  back  into  some  parts  of  Wales  again, 
the  roads  were  dusty,  and  no  rain  had  fallen  there. 

When  Oliver  Cromwell  sent  forth  a  proclamation 
for  a  fast  throughout  the  nation,  for  rain,  when  there 
was  a  very  great  drought,  it  was  observed  that  as  far 
as  Truth  had  spread  in  the  north,  there  were  pleasant 
showers  and  rain  enough,  while  in  the  south,  in  many 
places,  the  fields  were  almost  spoiled  for  want  of 
rain.  At  that  time  I  was  moved  to  write  an  answer 
to  the  Protector's  proclamation,  wherein  I  told  him 
that  if  he  had  come  to  own  God's  Truth,  he  should 
have  had  rain;  and  that  the  drought  was  a  sign  unto 
them  of  their  barrenness,  and  their  want  of  the 
water  of  life. 

We  passed  through  Montgomeryshire  into  Wales, 
and  so  into  Radnorshire,  where  there  was  a  meeting 


Planting  the  Seed  in  Wales.  283 


like  a  leaguer,*  for  multitudes.  I  walked  a  little  aside 
whilst  the  people  were  gathering:  and  there  came  to 
me  John  ap-John,  a  Welshman,  whom  I  asked  to  go 
to  the  people;  and  if  he  had  anything  upon  him  from 
the  Lord  to  them,  he  might  speak  in  "Welsh,  and 
thereby  gather  more  together.  Then  came  Morgan 
Watkins  to  me,  who  was  become  loving  to  Friends, 
and  said,  "  The  people  lie  like  a  leaguer,  and  the  gen- 
try of  the  country  are  come  in."  I  bade  him  go  up 
also,  and  leave  me ;  for  I  had  a  great  travail  upon  me 
for  the  salvation  of  the  people. 

When  they  were  well  gathered,  I  went  into  the 
meeting,  and  stood  upon  a  chair  about  three  hours.  I 
stood  a  pretty  while  before  I  began  to  speak.  After 
some  time  I  felt  the  power  of  the  Lord  over  the 
whole  assembly:  and  His  everlasting  life  and  Truth 
shone  over  all.  The  Scriptures  were  opened  to  them, 
and  the  objections  they  had  in  their  minds  answered. 
They  were  directed  to  the  Light  of  Christ,  the  heav- 
enly man;  that  by  it  they  might  see  their  sins,  and 
Christ  Jesus  to  be  their  Saviour,  their  Redeemer, 
their  Mediator;  and  come  to  feed  upon  Him,  the 
bread  of  life  from  heaven. 

Many  were  turned  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  to 
His  free  teaching  that  day;  and  all  were  bowed  down 
under  the  power  of  God;  so  that  though  the  multi- 
tude was  so  great  that  many  sat  on  horseback  to  tear, 
there  was  no  opposition.  A  priest  sat  with  his  wife 
on  horseback,  heard  attentively,  and  made  no  objec- 
tion. 

The  people  parted  peaceably,  with  great  satisfac- 

*  A  besieging  army. 


284 


George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


tion;  many  of  them  saying  they  had  never  heard 
such  a  sermon  before,  nor  the  Scriptures  so  opened. 
For  the  new  covenant  was  opened,  and  the  old,  and 
the  nature  and  terms  of  each;  and  the  parables  were 
explained.  The  state  of  the  Church  in  the  apostles' 
days  was  set  forth,  and  the  apostasy  since  was  laid 
open;  the  free  teaching  of  Christ  and  the  apostles 
was  set  atop  of  all  the  hireling  teachers;  and  the  Lord 
had  the  praise  of  all,  for  many  were  turned  to  Him 
that  day.' 

I  went  thence  to  Leominster,  where  was  a  great 
meeting  in  a  close,  many  hundreds  of  people  being 
gathered  together.  There  were  about  six  congrega- 
tional preachers  and  priests  amongst  the  people;  and 
Thomas  Taylor,  who  had  been  a  priest,  hnt  was  now 
become  a  minister  of  Christ  Jesus,  was  with  me.  I 
stood  up  and  declared  about  three  hours;  and  none 
of  the  priests  were  able  to  open  their  mouths  in  oppo- 
sition; the  Lord's  power  and  Truth  so  reached  and 
bound  them. 

At  length  one  priest  went  off  about  a  bow-shot 
from  me,  drew  several  of  the  people  after  him,  and 
began  to  preach  to  them.  So  I  kept  our  meeting, 
and  he  kept  his.  After  awhile  Thomas  Taylor  was 
moved  to  go  and  speak  to  him,  upon  which  he  gave 
over:  and  he,  with  the  people  he  had  drawn  off,  came 
to  us  again;  and  the  Lord's  power  went  over  all. 

'  Great  numbers  of  these  Welsh  Friends  migrated  to 
Pennsylvania  and  settled  Montgomery  County.  Hav- 
orford.  Bryn  Mawr,  Merion  and  Radnor  are  some  of  the 
historic  townships  whose  names  were  transferred  to  the 
new  world  by  these  followers  of  Fox. 


Planting  the  Seed  in  Wales.  285 


From  this  place  I  travelled  on  in  Wales,  having 
several  meetings,  till  I  came  to  Tenby,  where,  as  I 
rode  up  the  street,  a  justice  of  the  peace  came  out 
to  me,  asked  me  to  alight,  and  desired  that  I  would 
stay  at  his  house,  which  I  did.  On  First-day  the 
mayor,  with  his  wife,  and  several  others  of  the  chief 
people  of  the  town,  came  in  about  the  tenth  hour, 
and  stayed  all  the  time  of  the  meeting.  A  glorious 
meeting  it  was. 

John  ap-John  being  then  with  me,  left  the  meeting, 
and  went  to  the  steeple-house ;  and  the  governor  cast 
him  into  prison.  On  Second-day  morning  the  gov- 
ernor sent  one  of  his  officers  to  the  justice's  to  fetch 
me;  which  grieved  the  mayor  and  the  justice;  for 
they  were  both  with  me  in  the  justice's  house  when 
the  officer  came.  The  mayor  and  the  justice  went  to 
the  governor  before  me ;  and  awhile  after  I  went  with 
the  officer.  When  I  came  in  I  said,  "  Peace  be  unto 
this  house,"  and  before  the  governor  could  examine 
me  I  asked  him  why  he  cast  my  friend  into  prison. 
He  said,  "  For  standing  with  his  hat  on  in  the 
church." 

I  said,  "  Had  not  the  priest  two  caps  on  his  head, 
a  black  one  and  a  white  one  ?  Cut  off  the  brims  of 
the  hat,  and  then  my  friend  would  have  but  one: 
and  the  brims  of  the  hat  were  but  to  defend  him  from 
weather." 

"  These  are  frivolous  things,"  said  the  governor. 
"  Why,  then,"  said  I,  "  dost  thou  cast  my  friend 
into  prison  for  such  frivolous  things  ?  " 

He  asked  me  whether  I  owned  election  and  repro- 


286         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

bation.  "  Yes,"  said  I,  "  and  thou  art  in  the  repro- 
bation," 

At  that  he  was  in  a  rage  and  said  he  would  send 
me  to  prison  till  I  proved  it.  I  told  him  I  would 
prove  that  quickly  if  he  would  confess  Truth.  I 
asked  him  whether  wrath,  fury,  rage  and  persecu- 
tion were  not  marks  of  reprobation;  for  he  that  was 
born  of  the  flesh  persecuted  him  that  was  bom  of  the 
Spirit ;  but  Christ  and  His  disciples  never  persecuted 
nor  imprisoned  any. 

He  fairly  confessed  that  he  had  too  much  wrath, 
haste  and  passion  in  him.  I  told  him  that  Esau  was 
up  in  him,  the  first  birth;  not  Jacob,  the  second  birth. 
The  Lord's  power  so  reached  the  man  and  came  over 
him  that  he  confessed  to  Truth;  and  the  other  justice 
came  and  shook  me  kindly  by  the  hand. 

As  I  was  passing  away  I  was  moved  to  speak  to  the 
governor  again;  and  he  invited  me  to  dinner  with 
him,  and  set  my  friend  at  liberty.  I  went  back  to 
the  other  justice's  house;  and  after  some  time  the 
mayor  and  his  wife,  and  the  justice  and  his  wife,  and 
divers  other  Friends  of  the  town,  went  about  half  a 
mile  out  of  town  with  us,  to  the  water-side,  when 
we  went  away;  and  there,  when  we  parted  from  them, 
I  was  moved  of  the  Lord  to  kneel  down  with  them, 
and  pray  to  the  Lord  to  preserve  them.  So,  after  I 
had  recommended  them  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
their  Saviour  and  free  Teacher,  we  passed  away  in  the 
Lord's  power;  and  He  had  the  glory. 

We  travelled  to  Pembrokeshire,  and  in  Pembroke 
had  some  service  for  the  Lord.  Thence  we  passed 
to  Haverford  West,  where  we  had  a  great  meeting, 


Planting  the  Seed  in  Wales.  287 


and  all  was  quiet.  The  Lord's  power  came  over  all, 
and  many  were  settled  in  the  new  covenant,  Christ 
Jesus,  and  built  upon  Ilim,  their  Rock  and  Founda- 
tion; and  they  stand  a  precious  meeting  to  this  day. 
Next  day,  being  their  fair-day,  we  passed  through  it, 
and  sounded  the  day  of  the  Lord,  and  His  everlasting 
Truth,  amongst  them. 

After  this  we  passed  into  another  county,  and  at 
noon  came  into  a  great  market-town,  and  went  into 
several  inns  before  we  could  get  any  meat  for  our 
horses.  At  last  we  came  to  one  where  we  got  some. 
Then  John  ap-John  being  with  me,  went  and  spoke 
through  the  town,  declaring  the  Truth  to  the  people; 
and  when  he  came  to  me  again,  he  said  he  thought 
all  the  town  were  as  people  asleep.  After  awhile  he 
was  moved  to  go  and  declare  Truth  in  the  streets 
again;  then  the  town  was  all  in  an  uproar,  and  they 
cast  him  into  prison. 

Presently  after  several  of  the  chief  people  of  the 
town  came,  with  others,  to  the  inn  where  I  was,  and 
said,  "  They  have  cast  your  man  into  prison." 

"  For  what  ? "  said  L 

"  He  preached  in  our  streets,"  said  they. 

Then  I  asked  them,  "  What  did  he  say  ?  Had  lie 
reproved  some  of  the  drunkards  and  swearers,  and 
warned  them  to  repent,  and  leave  off  their  evil  do- 
ings, and  turn  to  the  Lord  ?  "  I  asked  them  who  cast 
him  into  prison.  They  said,  the  high-sheriff  and  jus- 
tices, and  the  mayor.  I  asked  their  names,  and 
whether  they  understood  themselves;  and  whether 
that  was  their  conduct  to  travellers  that  passed 
through  their  town,  and  strangers  that  admonished 


288         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

and  exkorted  them  to  fear  the  Lord,  and  reproved 
sin  in  their  gates. 

These  went  back,  and  told  the  oflBcers  what  I  had 
said;  and  after  awhile  they  brought  down  John  ap- 
John,  guarded  with  halberts,  in  order  to  put  him  out 
of  the  town.  Being  at  the  inn  door,  I  bade  the  offi- 
cers take  their  hands  off  him.  They  said  that  the 
mayor  and  justices  had  commanded  them  to  put  him 
out  of  town.  I  told  them  I  would  talk  with  their 
mayor  and  justices  concerning  their  uncivil  and  un- 
christian carriage  towards  him. 

So  I  spoke  to  John  to  go  look  after  the  horses,  and 
get  them  ready,  and  charged  the  officers  not  to  touch 
him.  After  I  had  declared  the  Truth  to  them,  and 
showed  them  the  fruits  of  their  priests,  and  their  in- 
civility and  unchristian  carriage,  they  left  us.  They 
were  a  kind  of  Independents;  a  very  wicked  town, 
and  false.  We  bade  the  innkeeper  give  our  horses 
a  peck  of  oats;  and  no  sooner  had  we  turned  our 
backs  than  the  oats  were  stolen  from  our  horses. 

After  we  had  refreshed  ourselves  a  little,  and  were 
ready,  we  took  horse,  and  rode  up  to  the  inn,  where 
the  mayor,  sheriff,  and  justices  were.  I  called  to 
speak  with  them,  and  asked  them  why  they  had  im- 
prisoned John  ap-John,  and  kept  him  in  prison  two  or 
three  hours.  But  they  woiald  not  answer  me  a  word; 
they  only  looked  out  at  the  windows  upon  me.  So 
I  showed  them  how  unchristian  was  their  carriage 
to  strangers  and  travellers,  and  how  it  manifested  the 
fruits  of  their  teachers;  and  I  declared  the  truth  unto 
them,  and  warned  them  of  the  day  of  the  Lord,  that 
was  coming  upon  all  evil-doers;  and  the  Lord's  power 


Planting  the  Seed  in  Wales.  289 


came  over  them,  that  they  looked  ashamed;  but  not 
a  word  could  I  get  from  them  in  answer. 

So  when  I  had  warned  them  to  repent,  and  turn  to 
the  Lord,  we  passed  away.  At  night  we  came  to  a 
little  inn,  very  poor,  but  very  cheap;  for  our  own 
provision  and  that  for  our  two  horses  cost  but  eight- 
pence;  but  the  horses  would  not  eat  their  oats.  We 
declared  the  Truth  to  the  people  of  the  place,  and 
sounded  the  day  of  the  Lord  through  the  countries.* 

Passing  thence  we  came  to  a  great  town,  and  went 
to  an  inn.  Edward  Edwards  went  into  the  market, 
and  declared  the  Truth  amongst  the  people ;  and  they 
followed  him  to  the  inn,  and  filled  the  yard,  and  were 
exceedingly  rude.  Yet  good  service  we  had  for  the 
Lord  amongst  them;  for  the  life  of  Christianity  and 
the  power  of  it  tormented  their  chaffy  spirits,  and 
came  over  them,  so  that  some  were  reached  and  con- 
vinced; and  the  Lord's  power  came  over  all.  The 
magistrates  were  bound;  they  had  no  power  to  med- 
dle with  us. 

After  this  we  came  to  another  great  town  on  a 
market-day;  and  John  ap-John  declared  the  everlast- 
ing Truth  through  the  streets,  and  proclaimed  the 
day  of  the  Lord  amongst  them.  In  the  evening  many 
people  gathered  about  the  inn;  and  some  of  them, 
being  drunk,  would  fain  have  had  us  come  into  the 
street  again.  But  seeing  their  design,  I  told  them 
that  if  there  were  any  that  feared  God  and  desired 
to  hear  the  Truth,  they  might  come  into  our  inn;  or 
else  we  might  have  a  meeting  with  them  next  morn- 
ing. 

*  Counties. 


290         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

Some  service  for  the  Lord  we  had  amongst  them, 
both  over  night  and  in  the  morning;  and  though  the 
people  were  slow  to  receive  the  Truth,  yet  the  seed 
was  sown;  and  thereabouts  the  Lord  hath  a  people 
gathered  to  Himself. 

In  that  inn,  also,  I  but  turned  my  back  to  the  man 
that  was  giving  oats  to  my  horse,  and,  looking  round 
again,  I  observed  he  was  filling  his  pockets  with  the 
provender.  A  wicked,  thievish  people,  to  rob  the 
poor,  dumb  creature  of  his  food.  I  would  rather 
they  had  robbed  me. 

Thence  we  went  to  Beaumaris,  a  town  wherein 
John  ap-John  had  formerly  been  a  preacher.  After 
we  had  put  up  our  horses  at  an  inn,  John  went  and 
spoke  through  the  street;  and  there  being  a  garrison 
in  the  town,  they  took  him  and  put  him  into  prison. 
The  innkeeper's  wife  came  and  told  me  that  the  gov- 
ernor and  magistrates  were  sending  for  me,  to  com- 
mit me  to  prison  also.  I  told  her  that  tlioy  had  done 
more  than  they  could  answer  already;  and  had  acted 
contrary  to  Christianity  in  imprisoning  him  for  re- 
proving sin  in  their  streets  and  gates,  and  for  declar- 
ing the  Truth.  Soon  after  came  other  friendly  peo- 
ple, and  told  me  that  if  I  went  into  the  street,  the 
governor  and  magistrates  would  imprison  me  also; 
therefore  they  desired  me  to  keep  within  the  inn. 

Upon  this  I  was  moved  to  go  and  walk  up  and 
down  in  the  streets.*  And  I  told  the  people  what  an 
uncivil,  unchristian  thing  they  had  done  in  casting 
my  friend  into  prison.  And  they  being  high  pro- 
fessors, I  asked  them  if  this  was  the  entertainment 


*  This  was  very  characteristic  of  the  man. 


Planting  the  Seed  in  Wales.  291 


they  had  for  strangers;  if  they  would  willingly  be 
so  served  themselves;  and  whether  they,  who  looked 
upon  the  Scriptures  to  be  their  rule,  had  any  ex- 
ample in  the  Scriptures  from  Christ  or  His  apostles, 
for  what  they  had  done.  So  after  awhile  they  set 
John  ap-John  at  liberty, 

Next  day,  being  market-day,  we  were  to  cross  a 
great  water;  ^  and  not  far  from  the  place  where  we 
were  to  take  boat,  many  of  the  market-people  drew 
to  us.  Amongst  these  we  had  good  service  for  the 
Lord,  declaring  the  Word  of  life  and  everlasting 
Truth  unto  them,  proclaiming  amongst  them  the  day 
of  the  Lord,  which  was  coming  upon  all  wickedness; 
and  directing  them  to  the  Light  of  Christ,  with  which 
He,  the  heavenly  man,  had  enlightened  them;  by 
which  they  might  see  all  their  sins,  and  all  their  false 
ways,  religions,  worships  and  teachers;  and  by  the 
same  Light  might  see  Christ  Jesus,  who  was  come  to 
save  them,  and  lead  them  to  God. 

After  the  Truth  had  been  declared  to  them  in  the 
power  of  God,  and  Christ  the  free  teacher  set  over 
all  the  hireling  teachers,  I  made  John  ap-John  get  his 
horse  into  the  boat,  which  was  then  ready.  But 
there  being  a  company  of  wild  "  gentlemen,"  as  they 
were  called,  gotten  into  it  (whom  we  found  very 
rude,  and  far  from  gentleness),  they,  with  others, 
kept  his  horse  out  of  the  boat.  I  rode  to  the  boat's 
side,  and  spoke  to  them,  showing  them  what  an  un- 
manly and  unchristian  carriage  it  was;  and  told  them 


^  Beaumaris  is  in  Anglesey,  so  that  they  were  to  cross 
Beaumaris  Bay  to  the  mainland. 


292         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

that  they  showed  an  unworthy  spirit,  below  Chris- 
tianity or  humanity. 

As  I  spoke,  I  leaped  my  horse  into  the  boat 
amongst  them,  thinking  John's  horse  would  follow 
when  he  had  seen  mine  go  in  before  him.  But  the 
water  being  pretty  deep,  John  could  not  get  his  horse 
into  the  boat.  Therefore  I  leaped  out  again  on  horse- 
back into  the  water,  and  stayed  with  John  on  that 
side  till  the  boat  returned. 

There  we  tarried,  from  the  eleventh  hour  of  the 
forenoon  to  the  second  in  the  afternoon,  before  the 
boat  came  to  fetch  us;  and  then  had  forty-two  miles 
to  ride  that  evening;  and  by  the  time  we  had  paid 
for  our  passage,  we  had  but  one  groat  left  between 
us  in  money. 

We  rode  about  sixteen  miles,  and  then  got  a  little 
hay  for  our  horses.  Setting  forward  again,  we  came 
in  the  night  to  a  little  ale-house,  where  we  thought 
to  have  stayed  and  baited.  But,  finding  we  could 
have  neither  oats  nor  hay  there,  we  travelled  all 
night ;  and  about  the  fifth  hour  in  the  morning  got  to 
a  place  within  six  miles  of  Wrexham,  where  that  day 
we  met  with  many  Friends,  and  had  a  glorious  meet- 
ing. The  Lord's  everlasting  power  and  Truth  was 
over  all;  and  a  meeting  is  continued  there  to  this  day. 

'Next  day  we  passed  thence  into  Flintshire,  sound- 
ing the  day  of  the  Lord  through  the  towns;  and  came 
into  Wrexham  at  night.  Here  many  of  Floyd's  peo- 
ple came  to  us;  but  very  rude,  wild,  and  airy  they 
were,  and  little  sense  of  truth  they  had;  yet  some 
were  convinced  in  that  town.  I^ext  morning  one 
called  a  lady  sent  for  me,  who  kept  a  preacher  in 


Planting  the  Seed  in  Wales.  293 


her  house.  I  went,  but  found  both  her  and  her 
preacher  very  light  and  airy;  too  light  to  receive  the 
weighty  things  of  God.  In  her  lightness  she  came 
and  asked  me  if  she  should  cut  my  hair;  but  I  was 
moved  to  reprove  her,  and  bade  her  cut  down  the  cor- 
ruptions in  herself  .with  the  sword  of  the  Spirit  of 
God.  So  after  I  had  admonished  her  to  be  more 
grave  and  sober,  we  passed  away;  and  afterwards,  in 
her  frothy  mind,  she  made  her  boast  that  she  came 
behind  me  and  cut  off  the  curl  of  my  hair;  "  but  she 
spoke  falsely. 

From  Wrexham  we  came  to  Chester;  and  it  being 
the  fair  time,  we  stayed  a  while,  and  visited  Friends. 
For  I  had  travelled  through  every  county  in  Wales, 
preaching  the  everlasting  gospel  of  Christ;  and  a 
brave  people  there  is  now,  who  have  received  it,  and 
sit  under  Christ's  teaching.  But  before  I  left  Wales 
I  wrote  to  the  magistrates  of  Beaumaris  concerning 
the  imprisoning  of  John  ap-John;  letting  them  see 
their  conditions,  and  the  fruits  of  their  Christianity, 
and  of  their  teachers.  Afterwards  I  met  with  some 
of  them  near  London;  but,  oh,  how  ashamed  they 
were  of  their  action  ! 

Soon  we  came  to  Manchester,  and  the  sessions 
being  there  that  day  many  rude  people  were  come 
out  of  the  country.  In  the  meeting  they  threw  at  me 
coals,  clods,  stones,  and  water;  yet  the  Lord's  power 
bore  me  up  over  them  that  they  could  not  strike  me 


*  This  "  curl  "  is  two  or  three  times  mentioned.  He 
always  wore  his  hair  long  and  apparently  had  a  long 
curling  lock  behind. 


294         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


down.  At  last,  when  they  saw  they  could  not  prevail 
by  throwing  water,  stones,  and  dirt  at  me,  they  went 
and  informed  the  justices  in  the  sessions,  who  there- 
upon sent  officers  to  fetch  me  before  them. 

The  officers  came  in  while  I  was  declaring  the 
Word  of  life  to  the  people,  plucked  me  down,  and 
haled  me  into  their  court.  When  I  came  there  all 
the  court  was  in  a  disorder  and  a  noise.  I  asked, 
"  Where  are  the  magistrates  that  they  do  not  keep 
the  people  civil  ? "  Some  of  the  justices  said  that 
they  were  magistrates.  I  asked  them  why,  then, 
they  did  not  appease  the  people,  and  keep  them  sober, 
for  one  cried,  "  I'll  swear,"  and  another  cried,  "  I'll 
swear." 

I  declared  to  the  justices  how  we  were  abused  in 
our  meeting  by  the  rude  people,  who  threw  stones, 
clods,  dirt,  and  water;  and  how  I  was  haled  out  of 
the  meeting  and  brought  thither,  contrary  to  the  in- 
strument of  government,  which  said  that  none  should 
be  molested  in  their  meetings  that  professed  God, 
and  owned  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ;  which  I  did.  The 
Truth  so  came  over  them  that  when  one  of  the  rude 
followers  cried,  "  I'll  swear,"  one  of  the  justices 
checked  him,  saying  "  What  will  you  swear  ?  hold 
your  tongue." 

At  last  they  bade  the  constable  take  me  to  my 
lodging,  and  there  secure  me  till  they  sent  for  me 
again  to-morrow  morning.  So  the  constable  took  me 
to  my  lodging. 

As  we  went  the  people  were  exceedingly  rude;  but 
I  let  them  see  the  fruits  of  their  teachers,  how  they 


Planting  the  Seed  in  Wales.  295 


shamed  Christianity,  and  dishonored  the  name  of 
Jesus  which  they  professed. 

At  night  we  went  to  see  a  justice  in  the  town  who 
was  pretty  moderate,  and  I  had  a  great  deal  of  dis- 
course with  him.  Next  morning  we  sent  to  the  con- 
stable to  know  if  he  had  anything  more  to  say  to  us. 
He  sent  us  word  that  he  had  nothing  to  say  to  us;  we 
might  go  whither  we  would. 

The  Lord  hath  since  raised  up  a  people  to  stand  for 
His  name  and  Truth  in  that  town  over  those  chaffy 
professors. 

We  passed  from  Manchester,  having  many  pre- 
cious meetings  in  several  places,  till  we  came  to  Pres- 
ton. Between  Preston  and  Lancaster  I  had  a  general 
meeting,  from  which  I  went  to  Lancaster.  There 
at  our  inn  I  met  with  Colonel  West,  who  was  very 
glad  to  see  me,  and  meeting  with  Judge  Fell  he  told 
him  that  I  was  mightily  grown  in  the  Truth;  when, 
indeed,  he  was  come  nearer  to  the  Truth,  and  so 
could  better  discern  it. 

We  came  from  Lancaster  to  Robert  Widders's.  On 
the  First-day  after  I  had  a  general  meeting  of 
Friends  of  Westmoreland  and  Lancashire  near  Sand- 
side,  when  the  Lord's  everlasting  power  was  over  all. 
In  this  meeting  the  Word  of  eternal  life  was  de- 
clared, and  Friends  were  settled  upon  the  foundation 
Christ  Jesus,  under  His  free  teaching;  and  many 
were  convinced,  and  turned  to  the  Lord. 

Next  day  I  came  over  the  Sands  to  Swarthmore, 
where  Friends  were  glad  to  see  me.  I  stayed  there 
two  First-days,  visiting  Friends  in  their  meetings 


296         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


thereabouts.  They  rejoiced  with  me  in  the  goodness 
of  the  Lord,  who  by  His  eternal  power  had  carried 
me  through  and  over  many  difficulties  and  dangers  in 
His  service;  to  Him  be  the  praise  for  ever  I 


CHAPTER  XI. 


5n  tije  ^ome  of  ttjt  €ohtnmttxn* 

1657. 

After  I  had  tarried  two  First-days  at  Swarth- 
more/  and  had  visited  Friends  in  their  meetings 
thereabouts,  I  passed  into  Westmoreland,  in  the  same 
work,  till  I  came  to  John  Audland's,  where  there  was 
a  general  meeting. 

The  night  before  I  had  had  a  vision  of  a  desperate 
creature  that  was  coming  to  destroy  me,  but  I  got  vic- 
tory over  it.  And  next  day  in  meeting-time  came  one 
Otway,  with  some  rude  fellows.  He  rode  round 
about  the  meeting  with  his  sword  or  rapier,  and 
would  fain  have  got  in  through  the  Friends  to  me; 
but  the  meeting  being  great,  the  Friends  stood  close, 
so  that  he  could  not  easily  come  at  me.  When  he 
had  ridden  about  several  times  raging,  and  found  he 
could  not  get  in,  being  limited  by  the  Lord's  power, 
he  went  away. 


^  While  waiting  at  Swarthmore,  between  the  labors  in 
Wales  and  the  visit  to  Scotland,  George  Fox  wrote  sev- 
eral epistles.  Here  is  a  beautiful  little  Postscript  to 
his  epistle  "  to  Friends  " : 

"  Postscript — And,  Friends,  be  careful  how  ye  set 
your  feet  among  the  tender  plants,  that  are  springing 
up  out  of  God's  earth ;  lest  ye  tread  upon  them,  hurt, 
bruise,  or  crush  them  in  God's  vineyard." 


298         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography, 


It  was  a  glorious  meeting,  ended  peaceably,  and 
the  Lord's  everlasting  power  came  over  all.  This 
wild  man  went  home,  became  distracted,  and  not  long 
after  died.  I  sent  a  paper  to  John  Blakelin  to  read 
to  him,  while  he  lay  ill,  showing  him  his  wickedness, 
and  he  acknowledged  something  of  it. 

I  had  for  some  time  felt  drawings  on  my  spirit  to 
go  into  Scotland,  and  had  sent  to  Colonel  William 
Osburn  of  Scotland,  desiring  him  to  meet  me ;  and  he, 
with  some  others,  came  out  of  Scotland  to  this  meet- 
ing.^ After  it  was  over  (which,  he  said,  was  the  most 
glorious  meeting  that  ever  he  saw  in  his  life),  I 
passed  with  him  and  his  company  into  Scotland,  hav- 
ing with  me  Robert  Widders,  a  thundering  man 
against  hypocrisy,  deceit,  and  the  rottenness  of  the 
priests. 

The  first  night  we  came  into  Scotland  we  lodged 
at  an  inn.  The  innkeeper  told  us  an  earl  lived  about 
a  quarter  of  a  mile  off,  who  had  a  desire  to  see  me; 
and  had  left  word  at  the  inn  that  if  ever  I  came  into 
Scotland,  he  should  be  told  of  it.  The  innkeeper  told 
us  there  were  three  drawbridges  to  the  earl's  house; 
and  that  it  would  be  nine  o'clock  before  the  third 
bridge  was  drawn. 

Finding  we  had  time  in  the  evening,  we  walked  to 
his  house.  He  received  us  very  lovingly,  and  said  he 
would  have  gone  with  us  on  our  journey,  but  that  he 
was  before  engaged  to  go  to  a  funeral.  After  we  had 
spent  some  time  with  him,  we  parted  very  friendly. 


^  This  was  a  great  general  meeting  at  Langlands,  in 
Cuml)erland. 


In  the  Home  of  the  Covenanters.  299 

and  returned  to  our  inn.  Next  morning  we  travelled 
on,  and  passing  through  Dumfries,  came  to  Douglas, 
where  we  met  with  some  Friends.  Thence  we  passed 
to  the  Heads,  where  we  had  a  blessed  meeting  in  the 
name  of  Jesus,  and  felt  Him  in  the  midst. 

Leaving  Heads,  we  went  to  Badcow,  and  had  a 
meeting  there,  to  which  abundance  of  people  came, 
and  many  were  convinced.  Amongst  them  was  one 
called  a  lady.  From  thence  we  passed  towards  the 
Highlands  to  William  Osburn's,  where  we  gathered 
up  the  sufferings  of  Friends,  and  the  principles  of  the 
Scotch  priests,  which  may  be  seen  in  a  book  called 
"  The  Scotch  Priests'  Principles." 

Afterwards  we  returned  to  Heads,  Badcow,  and 
Garshore,  where  the  said  lady,  Margaret  Hambleton, 
was  convinced;  who  afterwards  went  to  warn  Oliver 
Cromwell  and  Charles  Fleetwood  of  the  day  of  the 
Lord  that  was  coming  upon  them. 

On  First-day  we  had  a  great  meeting,  and  several 
professors  came  to  it.  Now,  the  priests  had  fright- 
ened the  people  with  the  doctrine  of  election  and 
reprobation,  telling  them  that  God  had  ordained  the 
greatest  part  of  men  and  women  for  hell;  and  that, 
let  them  pray,  or  preach,  or  sing,  or  do  what  they 
would,  it  was  all  to  no  purpose,  if  they  were  ordained 
for  hell.  Also  that  God  had  a  certain  number 
elected  for  heaven,  let  them  do  what  they  would;  as 
David  was  an  adulterer,  and  Paul  a  persecutor,  yet 
still  they  were  elected  vessels  for  heaven.  So  the 
priests  said  the  fault  was  not  at  all  in  the  creature, 
less  or  more,  but  that  God  had  ordained  it  so. 

I  was  led  to  open  to  the  people  the  falseness  and 


300         George  Fox:  An  Autohiograpliy. 

folly  of  their  priests'  doctrines,  and  showed  how  they, 
the  priests,  had  abused  those  Scriptures  they  quoted. 
Now  all  that  believe  in  the  Light  of  Christ,  as  He 
commands,  are  in  the  election,  and  sit  under  the 
teaching  of  the  grace  of  God,  which  brings  their  sal- 
vation. But  such  as  turn  this  grace  into  wantonness, 
are  in  the  reprobation;  and  such  as  hate  the  Light, 
are  in  the  condemnation. 

So  I  exhorted  all  the  people  to  believe  in  the  Light, 
as  Christ  commands,  and  to  own  the  grace  of  God, 
their  free  teacher;  and  it  would  assuredly  bring  them 
their  salvation;  for  it  is  sufficient.  Many  Scriptures 
were  opened  concerning  reprobation,^  and  the  eyes 
of  the  people  were  opened;  and  a  spring  of  life  rose 
up  among  them. 

These  things  soon  came  to  the  priest's  ears;  for  the 
people  that  sat  under  their  dark  teachings  began  to 
see  light,  and  to  come  into  the  covenant  of  light. 
The  noise  was  spread  over  Scotland,  amongst  the 
priests,  that  I  was  come  thither;  and  a  great  cry 
"went  up  among  them  that  all  would  be  spoiled;  for, 
they  said,  I  had  spoiled  all  the  honest  men  and 
women  in  England  already;  so,  according  to  their 
own  accoimt,  the  worst  were  left  to  them. 

Upon  this  they  gathered  great  assemblies  of  priests 
together,  and  drew  up  a  number  of  cvirses  to  be  read 
in  their  several  steeple-houses,  that  all  the  people 
might  say  "  Amen  "  to  them.    Some  few  of  these  I 


'  In  this  discussion  the  Scripture  arguments  were 
gone  over,  and  George  Fox  offset  the  proof-texts  on 
election  with  passages  showing  man's  responsibility. 


In  the  Home  of  the  Covenanters.  301 


will  here  set  down;  the  rest  may  be  read  in  the  book 
before  mentioned,  of  "  The  Scotch  Priests'  Princi- 
ples." 

The  first  was,  "  Cursed  is  he  that  saith.  Every  man 
hath  a  light  within  him  sufficient  to  lead  him  to  sal- 
vation; and  let  all  the  people  say,  Amen." 

The  second,  "  Cursed  is  he  that  saith.  Faith  is 
without  sin;  and  let  all  the  people  say,  Amen." 

The  third,  "  Cursed  is  he  that  denieth  the  Sabbath- 
day;  and  let  all  the  people  say,  Amen." 

In  this  last  they  make  the  people  curse  themselves; 
for  on  the  Sabbath-day  (which  is  the  seventh  day  of 
the  week,  which  the  Jews  kept  by  the  command  of 
God  to  them)  they  kept  markets  and  fairs,  and  so 
brought  the  curse  upon  their  own  heads.* 

Now  were  the  priests  in  such  a  rage  that  they 
posted  to  Edinburgh  to  Oliver  Cromwell's  Council 
there,  with  petitions  against  me.  The  noise  was  that 
"  all  was  gone  ";  for  several  Friends  were  come  out 
of  England  and  spread  over  Scotland,  sounding  the 
day  of  the  Lord,  preaching  the  everlasting  gospel  of 
salvation,  and  turning  people  to  Christ  Jesus,  who 
died  for  them,  that  they  might  receive  His  free 
teaching. 

After  I  had  gathered  the  principles  of  the  Scotch 
priests,  and  the  sufferings  of  Friends,  and  had  seen 
the  Friends,  in  that  part  of  Scotland  settled  by  the 


*  The  Friends  always  refused  to  keep  the  First  Day 
as  though  it  were  a  continuation  of  the  Jewish  Sabbath. 
For  them  it  was  a  day  set  apart  for  man's  high  spiritual 
use. 


302         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

Lord's  power,  upon  Christ  their  foundation,  I  went 
to  Edinburgh,  and  in  the  way  came  to  Linlithgow, 
where  lodging  at  an  inn,  the  innkeeper's  wife,  who 
was  blind,  received  the  Word  of  life,  and  came  under 
the  teaching  of  Christ  Jesus,  her  Saviour. 

At  night  there  came  in  abundance  of  soldiers  and 
some  officers,  with  whom  we  had  much  discourse ;  and 
some  were  rude.  One  of  the  officers  said  he  would 
obey  the  Turk's  or  Pilate's  command,  if  they  should 
command  him  to  guard  Christ  to  crucify  Him.  So 
far  was  he  from  all  tenderness,  or  sense  of  the  Spirit 
of  Christ,  that  he  would  rather  crucify  the  just  than 
sulfer  for  or  with  them;  whereas  many  officers  and 
magistrates  have  lost  their  places  before  they  would 
turn  against  the  Lord  and  His  Just  One. 

When  I  had  stayed  a  while  at  Edinburgh,  I  went  to 
Leith,  where  many  officers  of  the  army  came  in  with 
their  wives,  and  many  were  convinced.  Among  these 
Edward  Billings's  wife  was  one.  She  brought  a  great 
deal  of  coral  in  her  hand,  and  threw  it  on  the  table 
before  me,  to  see  whether  I  would  speak  against  it 
or  not,  I  took  no  notice  of  it,  but  declared  the  Truth 
to  her,  and  she  was  reached.  There  came  in  many 
Baptists,  who  were  very  rude;  but  the  Lord's  power 
came  over  them,  so  that  they  went  away  confounded. 

Then  there  came  in  another  sort,  and  one  of  them 
said  he  would  dispute  with  me;  and  for  argument's 
sake  would  deny  there  was  a  God.  I  told  him  he 
might  be  one  of  those  fools  that  said  in  his  heart, 
"  There  is  no  God,"  but  he  would  know  Him  in  the 
day  of  His  judgment.   So  he  went  his  way. 

A  precious  time  we  had  afterwards  with  several 


In  the  Home  of  the  Covenanters. 


303 


people  of  account;  and  the  Lord's  power  came  over 
all.  William  Osburn  was  with  me.  Colonel  Lidcot's 
wife,  and  William  Welch's  wife,  and  several  of  the 
officers  themselves,  were  convinced.  Edward  Billings 
and  his  wife  at  that  time  lived  apart;  and  she  being 
reached  by  Truth,  and  become  loving  to  Friends,  we 
sent  for  her  husband,  who  came.  The  Lord's  power 
reached  unto  them  both,  and  they  joined  in  it,  and 
agreed  to  live  together  in  love  and  unity  as  man  and 
wife. 

After  this  we  returned  to  Edinburgh  where  many 
thousands  were  gathered  together,  with  abundance 
of  priests  among  them,  about  burning  a  witch,  and  I 
was  moved  to  declare  the  day  of  the  Lord  amongst 
them.  When  I  had  done,  I  went  thence  to  our  meet- 
ing, whither  came  many  rude  people  and  Baptists. 

The  Baptists  began  to  vaunt  with  their  logic  and 
syllogisms;  but  I  was  moved  in  the  Lord's  power  to 
thresh  their  chafFy,  light  minds.  I  showed  the  peo- 
ple that,  after  that  fallacious  way  of  discoursing, 
they  might  make  white  seem  black,  and  black  seem 
white;  as,  that  because  a  cock  had  two  legs,  and  each 
of  them  had  two  legs,  therefore  they  were  all  cocks.^ 
Thus  they  might  turn  anything  into  lightness  and 
vanity;  but  it  was  not  the  way  of  Christ,  or  His  apos- 
tles, to  teach,  speak,  or  reason  after  that  manner. 

Hereupon  those  Baptists  went  their  way;  and  after 
they  were  gone  we  had  a  blessed  meeting  in  the 
Lord's  power,  which  was  over  all. 


The  reference  is  to  the  logical  definition  of  man  as 
"  an  unfetithered  bipod,"  which  is  as  old  as  Plato. 


30-i         George  Fox:  An  Autohiograpliy. 

I  mentioned  before  that  many  of  the  Scotch 
priests,  being  greatly  disturbed  at  the  spreading  of 
Truth,  and  the  loss  of  their  hearers  thereby,  were 
gone  to  Edinburgh  to  petition  the  Council  against  me. 
When  I  came  from  the  meeting  to  the  inn  where  I 
lodged,  an  officer  belonging  to  the  Council  brought 
me  the  following  order : 

"  Thursday,  the  8th  of  October,  1657,  at  his  High- 
ness' Council  in  Scotland : 

"  Ordered,  That  George  Fox  do  appear  before  the 
Council  on  Tuesday,  the  13th  of  October  next,  in  the 
forenoon. 

"  E.  Downing,  Clerk  of  the  Council." 

When  he  had  delivered  me  the  order,  he  asked  me 
whether  I  would  appear  or  not.  I  did  not  tell  him; 
but  asked  him  if  he  had  not  forged  the  order.  He 
said  "  No  " ;  that  it  was  a  real  order  from  the  Coun- 
cil, and  he  was  sent  as  their  messenger  with  it. 

When  the  time  came  I  appeared,  and  was  taken 
into  a  great  room,  where  many  persons  came  and 
looked  at  me.  After  awhile  the  doorkeeper  took  me 
into  the  council-chamber;  and  as  I  was  going  he  took 
off  my  hat.  I  asked  him  why  he  did  so,  and  who  was 
there  that  I  might  not  go  in  with  my  hat  on.  I  told 
him  I  had  been  before  the  Protector  with  my  hat  on. 
But  he  hung  up  my  hat  and  took  me  in  before  them. 

When  I  had  stood  awhile,  and  they  said  nothing 
to  me,  I  was  moved  of  the  Lord  to  say,  "  Peace  be 
amongst  you.  Wait  in  the  fear  of  God,  that  ye  may 
receive  His  wisdom  from  above,  by  which  all  things 
were  made  and  created;  that  by  it  ye  may  all  be  or- 


In  the  Home  of  the  Covenanters.  305 


dered,  and  may  order  all  things  under  your  hands  to 
God's  glory." 

They  asked  me  what  was  the  occasion  of  my  com- 
ing into  that  nation.  I  told  them  I  came  to  visit  the 
Seed  of  God,  which  had  long  lain  in  bondage  under 
corruption,  so  that  all  in  the  nation  who  professed  the 
Scriptures,  the  words  of  Christ,  of  the  prophets  and 
apostles,  might  come  to  the  Light,  Spirit  and  power, 
which  they  were  in  who  gave  them  forth.  I  told 
them  that  in  and  by  the  Spirit  they  might  understand 
the  Scriptures,  and  know  Christ  and  God  aright,  and 
might  have  fellowship  with  them,  and  one  with  an- 
other. 

They  asked  me  whether  I  had  any  outward  busi- 
ness there.  I  said,  "  Nay."  Then  they  asked  me 
how  long  I  intended  to  stay  in  that  country.  I  told 
them  I  should  say  little  to  that;  my  time  was  not  to 
be  long;  yet  in  my  freedom  in  the  Lord  I  stood,  in 
the  will  of  Him  that  sent  me. 

Then  they  bade  me  withdraw,  and  the  doorkeeper 
took  me  by  the  hand  and  led  me  forth.  In  a  little 
time  they  sent  for  me  again,  and  told  me  that  I  must 
depart  the  nation  of  Scotland  by  that  day  sevennight. 
I  asked  them,  "  Why?  What  have  I  done?  What 
is  my  transgression  that  you  pass  such  a  sentence 
upon  me  to  depart  out  of  the  nation  ? "  They  told 
me  they  would  not  dispute  with  me.  I  desired  them 
to  hear  what  I  had  to  say  to  them.  They  said  they 
would  not  hear  me.  I  told  them,  "  Pharaoh  heard 
Moses  and  Aaron,  yet  he  was  an  heathen;  and  Herod 
heard  J ohn  the  Baptist ;  and  you  should  not  be  worse 
than  these."    But  they  cried,  "  Withdraw,  with- 


306         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

draw."  Thereupon  the  doorkeeper  took  me  again 
by  the  hand  and  led  me  out. 

I  returned  to  my  inn,  and  continued  still  in  Edin- 
burgh; visiting  Friends  there  and  thereabouts,  and 
strengthening  them  in  the  Lord.  After  a  little  time 
I  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Council  to  lay  before  them 
their  unchristian  dealings  in  banishing  me,  an  inno- 
cent man,  that  sought  their  salvation  and  eternal 
good. 

After  I  had  spent  some  time  among  Friends  at 
Edinburgh  and  thereabouts,  I  passed  thence  to  Heads 
again,  where  Friends  had  been  in  great  sufferings. 
For  the  Presbyterian  priests  had  excommunicated 
them,  and  given  charge  that  none  should  buy  or  sell 
or  eat  or  drink  with  them.  So  they  could  neither 
sell  their  commodities  nor  buy  what  they  wanted; 
which  made  it  go  very  hard  with  some  of  them;  for 
if  they  had  bought  bread  or  other  victuals  of  any  of 
their  neighbors,  the  priests  threatened  them  so  with 
curses  that  they  would  run  and  fetch  it  from  them 
again.  But  Colonel  Ashfield,  being  a  justice  of  the 
peace  in  that  country,  put  a  stop  to  the  priests'  pro- 
ceedings. This  Colonel  Ashfield  was  afterwards  con- 
vinced himself,  had  a  meeting  settled  at  his  house, 
declared  the  Truth,  and  lived  and  died  in  it. 

After  I  had  visited  Friends  at  and  about  Heads, 
and  encouraged  them  in  the  Lord,  I  went  to  Glasgow, 
where  a  meeting  was  appointed;  but  not  one  of  the 
town  came  to  it.  As  I  went  into  the  city,  the  guard 
at  the  gates  took  me  before  the  governor,  who  was  a 
moderate  man.   A  great  deal  of  discourse  T  had  with 


In  the  Home  of  the  Covenanters.  307 

him.  He  was  too  light  to  receive  the  Truth;  yet  he 
set  me  at  liberty;  so  I  passed  to  the  meeting. 

Seeing  none  of  the  town's  people  came  to  the  meet- 
ing, we  declared  Truth  through  the  town;  then  passed 
away,  visited  Friends'  meetings  thereabouts,  and  re- 
turned towards  Badcow.  Several  Friends  declared 
Truth  in  the  steeple-houses  and  the  Lord's  power  was 
with  them. 

Once  as  I  was  going  with  William  Osburn  to  his 
house  there  lay  a  company  of  rude  fellows  by  the 
wayside,  hid  under  the  hedges  and  in  bushes.  Seeing 
them,  I  asked  him  what  they  were,  "  Oh,"  said  he, 
"  they  are  thieves."  Robert  Widders,  being  moved  to 
go  and  speak  to  a  priest,  was  left  behind,  intending 
to  come  after.  So  I  said  to  William  Osburn,  "  I  will 
stay  here  in  this  valley,  and  do  thou  go  and  look  after 
Robert  Widders  " ;  but  he  was  unwilling  to  go,  being 
afraid  to  leave  me  there  alone,  because  of  those  fel- 
lows, till  I  told  him  I  feared  them  not. 

Then  I  called  to  them,  asking  them  what  they  lay 
lurking  there  for,  and  I  bade  them  come  to  me;  but 
they  were  loath  to  come,  I  charged  them  to  come 
up  to  me,  or  else  it  might  be  worse  with  them;  then 
they  came  trembling,  for  the  dread  of  the  Lord  had 
struck  them,  I  admonished  them  to  be  honest,  and 
directed  them  to  the  Light  of  Christ  in  their  hearts, 
that  by  it  they  might  see  what  an  evil  it  was  to  follow 
after  theft  and  robbery;  and  the  power  of  the  Lord 
came  over  them, 

1  stayed  there  till  William  Osburn  and  Robert 
Widders  came  up,  then  we  passed  on  together.  But 
it  is  likely  that,  if  we  two  had  gone  away  before,  they 


308         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

would  have  robbed  Robert  Widders  when  he  had 
come  after  alone,  there  being  three  or  four  of  them. 

We  went  to  William  Osburn's  house,  where  we  had 
a  good  opportunity  to  declare  the  Truth  to  several 
people  that  came  in.  Then  we  went  among  the  High- 
landers, who  were  so  devilish  they  were  like  to  have 
spoiled  us  and  our  horses;  for  they  ran  at  us  with 
pitchforks.  But  through  the  Lord's  goodness  we  es- 
caped them,  being  preserved  by  His  power. 

Thence  we  passed  to  Stirling,  where  the  soldiers 
took  us  up,  and  had  us  to  the  main  guard.  After  a 
few  words  with  the  olEcers,  the  Lord's  power  coming 
over  them,  we  were  set  at  liberty;  but  no  meeting 
could  we  get  amongst  them  in  the  tovm,  they  were 
so  closed  up  in  darkness,  l^ext  morning  there  came 
a  man  with  a  horse  that  was  to  run  a  race,  and  most 
of  the  townspeople  and  officers  went  to  see  it.  As 
they  came  back  from  the  race,  I  had  a  brave  oppor- 
tunity to  declare  the  day  of  the  Lord  and  His  Word 
of  life  amongst  them.  Some  confessed  to  it,  and 
some  opposed ;  but  the  Lord's  truth  and  power  came 
over  them  all. 

Leaving  Stirling,  we  came  to  Burntisland,  where 
I  had  two  meetings  at  one  Captain  Pool's  house;  one 
in  the  morning,  the  other  in  the  afternoon.  Whilst 
they  went  to  dine  I  walked  to  the  seaside,  not  having 
freedom  to  eat  with  them.  Both  he  and  his  wife  were 
convinced,  and  became  good  Friends  afterward;  and 
several  officers  of  the  army  came  in  and  received  the 
Truth. 

We  passed  thence  through  several  other  places, 
till  we  came  to  Johnstons,  where  were  several  Bap- 


In  the  Home  of  the  Covenanters.  309 

tists  that  were  very  bitter,  and  came  in  a  rage  to 
dispute  with  us.  Vain  janglers  and  disputers  indeed 
they  were.  When  they  could  not  prevail  by  disput- 
ing they  went  and  informed  the  governor  against  us; 
and  next  morning  he  raised  a  whole  company  of  foot, 
and  banished  me  and  Alexander  Parker,  also  James 
Lancaster  and  Robert  Widders,  out  of  the  town. 

As  they  guarded  us  through  the  town,  James  Lan- 
caster was  moved  to  sing  with  a  melodious  sound  in 
the  power  of  God;  and  I  was  moved  to  proclaim  the 
day  of  the  Lord,  and  preach  the  everlasting  gospel 
to  the  people.  For  the  people  generally  came  forth, 
so  that  the  streets  were  filled  with  them,  and  the 
soldiers  were  so  ashamed  that  they  said  they  would 
rather  have  gone  to  Jamaica  than  guarded  us  so. 

But  we  were  put  into  a  boat  with  our  horses,  car- 
ried over  the  water,  and  there  left.  The  Baptists, 
who  were  the  cause  of  our  being  thus  put  out  of  this 
town,  were  themselves,  not  long  after,  turned  out  of 
the  army;  and  he  that  was  then  governor  was  dis- 
carded also  when  the  king  came  in. 

Being  thus  thrust  out  of  Johnstons,  we  went  to  an- 
other market-tovpn,  where  Edward  Billings  and  many 
soldiers  were  quartered.  We  went  to  an  inn,  and  de- 
sired to  have  a  meeting  in  the  town,  that  we  might 
preach  the  everlasting  gospel  amongst  them.  The 
officers  and  soldiers  said  we  should  have  it  in  the 
town-hall;  but  the  Scotch  magistrates  in  spite  ap- 
pointed a  meeting  there  that  day  for  the  business  of 
the  town. 

When  the  officers  of  the  soldiery  understood  this, 
and  perceived  that  it  was  done  in  malice,  they  would 


310         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

have  had  us  go  into  the  town-hall  nevertheless.  But 
we  told  them,  "  No;  by  no  means;  for  then  the  mag- 
istrates might  inform  the  governor  against  us  and 
say, '  They  took  the  tov^rn-hall  from  us  by  force,  when 
we  were  to  do  our  town-business  therein.'  "  We  told 
them  we  would  go  to  the  market-place.  They  said  it 
was  market-day.  We  replied,  "  It  is  so  much  the  bet- 
ter; for  we  would  have  all  people  to  hear  the  Truth 
and  know  our  principles." 

Alexander  Parker  went  and  stood  upon  the  mar- 
ket-cross, with  a  Bible  in  his  hand,  and  declared  the 
Truth  amongst  the  soldiers  and  market-people; 
but  the  Scots,  being  a  dark,  carnal  people,  gave  little 
heed,  and  hardly  took  notice  what  was  said.  After 
awhile  I  was  moved  of  the  Lord  to  stand  up  at  the 
cross,  and  to  declare  with  a  loud  voice  the  everlast- 
ing Truth,  and  the  day  of  the  Lord  that  was  coming 
upon  all  sin  and  wickedness.  Thereupon  the  people 
came  running  out  of  the  town-hall  and  gathered  so 
together  that  at  last  we  had  a  large  meeting;  for  they 
only  sat  in  the  court  for  a  colour  to  hinder  us  from 
having  the  hall  to  meet  in. 

When  the  people  were  come  away  the  magistrates 
followed  them.  Some  walked  by,  but  some  stayed 
and  heard;  and  the  Lord's  power  came  over  all  and 
kept  all  quiet.  The  people  were  turned  to  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  who  died  for  them,  and  had  enlightened 
them,  that  with  His  Light  they  might  see  their  evil 
deeds,  be  saved  from  their  sins  by  Ilim,  and  might 
come  to  know  Him  to  be  their  teacher.  But  if  they 
would  not  receive  Christ,  and  own  Him,  it  was  told 


In  the  Home  of  the  Covenanters.  311 


them  tkat  this  Light  which  caine  from  Him  would 
be  their  condemnation. 

We  travelled  from  this  town  to  Leith,  warning  and 
exhorting  people,  as  we  went,  to  turn  to  the  Lord. 
At  Leith  the  innkeeper  told  me  that  the  Council  had 
granted  warrants  to  apprehend  me,  because  I  was  not 
gone  out  of  the  nation  after  the  seven  days  were  ex- 
pired that  they  had  ordered  me  to  depart  in.  Sev- 
eral friendly  people  also  came  and  told  me  the  same ; 
to  whom  I  said,  "  Why  do  ye  tell  me  of  their  war- 
rants against  me  ?  Lf  there  were  a  cart-load  of  them 
I  would  not  heed  them,  for  the  Lord's  power  is  over 
them  all."  « 

I  went  from  Leith  to  Edinburgh  again,  where  they 
said  the  warrants  from  the  Council  were  out  against 
me.  I  went  to  the  inn  where  I  had  lodged  before, 
and  no  man  offered  to  meddle  with  me.  After  I  had 
visited  Friends  in  the  city,  I  desired  those  that  trav- 
elled with  me  to  get  ready  their  horses  in  the  morn- 
ing, and  we  rode  out  of  town  together.  There  were 
with  me  at  that  time  Thomas  Rawlinson,  Alexander 
Parker,  and  Robert  Widders. 

When  we  were  out  of  town  they  asked  me  whither 
I  would  go.  I  told  them  it  was  upon  me  from  the 
Lord  to  go  back  again  to  Johnstons  (the  town  out  of 
which  we  had  been  lately  thrust),  to  set  the  power 
of  God  and  His  Truth  over  them  also.  Alexander 
Parker  said  he  would  go  along  with  me ;  and  I  wished 


•*  Here  is  more  of  the  Luther  spirit.  He  is  reported 
to  have  said:  "I  would  go  to  Leipsic  if  it  rained  Duke 
Georges  nine  days  running." 


312         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography . 


the  other  two  to  stay  at  a  town  about  three  miles 
from  Edinburgh  till  we  returned. 

Then  Alexander  and  I  got  over  the  water,  about 
three  miles  across,  and  rode  through  the  country; 
but  in  the  afternoon,  his  horse  being  weak  and  not 
able  to  hold  up  with  mine,  I  rode  on  ahead  and  got 
into  Johnstons  just  as  they  were  drawing  up  the 
bridges,  the  officers  and  soldiers  never  questioning 
me.  I  rode  up  the  street  to  Captain  Davenport's 
house,  from  which  we  had  been  banished.  There 
were  many  officers  with  him;  and  when  I  came 
amongst  them  they  lifted  up  their  hands,  wondering 
that  I  should  come  again.  But  I  told  them  the  Lord 
God  had  sent  me  amongst  them  again;  so  they  went 
their  way. 

The  Baptists  sent  me  a  letter,  by  way  of  chal- 
lenge, to  discourse  with  me  next  day.  I  sent  them 
word  that  I  would  meet  them  at  such  a  house,  about 
half  a  mile  out  of  the  town,  at  such  an  hour.  For  I 
considered  that  if  I  should  stay  in  town  to  discourse 
with  them  they  might,  under  pretence  of  discoursing 
with  me,  raise  men  to  put  me  out  of  the  town  again, 
as  they  had  done  before. 

At  the  time  appointed  I  went  to  the  place.  Captain 
Davenport  and  his  son  accompanying  me.  There  I 
stayed  some  hours,  but  not  one  of  them  came.  While 
I  stayed  there  waiting  for  them,  I  saw  Alexander 
Parker  coming.  ITot  being  able  to  reach  the  town, 
he  had  lain  out  the  night  before;  and  I  was  exceed- 
ingly glad  that  we  were  met  again. 

This  Captain  Davenport  was  then  loving  to 
Friends;  and  afterwards,  coming  more  into  obedience 


In  the  Home  of  the  Covenanters.  313 


to  Truth,  he  was  turned  out  of  his  place  for  not  put- 
ting off  his  hat,  and  for  saying  Thou  and  Thee  to 
them. 

When  we  had  waited  beyond  reasonable  ground  to 
expect  any  of  them  coming,  we  departed;  and  Alex- 
ander Parker  being  moved  to  go  again  to  the 
town,  where  we  had  the  meeting  at  the  market-cross, 
I  passed  alone  to  Lieutenant  Foster's  quarters,  where 
I  found  several  officers  that  were  convinced.  Thence 
I  went  up  to  the  town,  where  I  had  left  the  other  two 
Friends,  and  we  went  back  to  Edinburgh  together. 

When  we  were  come  to  the  city,  I  bade  Robert 
Widders  follow  me;  and  in  the  dread  and  power  of 
the  Lord  we  came  up  to  the  two  first  sentries.  The 
Lord's  power  came  so  over  them  that  we  passed  by 
them  without  any  examination.  Then  we  rode  up 
the  street  to  the  market-place  and  by  the  main-guard, 
out  at  the  gate  by  the  third  sentry,  and  so  clear  out 
into  the  suburbs;  and  there  we  came  to  an  inn  and 
put  up  our  horses,  it  being  Seventh-day.  I  saw  and 
felt  that  we  had  ridden  as  it  were  against  the  can- 
non's mouth  or  the  sword's  point;  but  the  Lord's 
power  and  immediate  hand  carried  us  over  the  heads 
of  them  all. 

Next  day  I  went  to  the  meeting  in  the  city. 
Friends  having  had  notice  that  I  would  attend  it. 
There  came  many  officers  and  soldiers  to  it,  and  a 
glorious  meeting  it  was;  the  everlasting  power  of 
God  was  set  over  the  nation,  and  His  Son  reigned  in 
His  glorious  power.  All  was  quiet,  and  no  man  of- 
fered to  meddle  with  me. 

When  the  meeting  was  ended,  and  I  had  visited 


314         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

Friends^  I  came  out  of  the  city  to  my  inn  again.  The 
next  day,  being  Second-day,  we  set  forward  towards 
the  borders  of  England. 

As  we  travelled  along  the  country  I  espied  a  stee- 
ple-house, and  it  struck  at  my  life.  I  asked  what 
steeple-house  it  was,  and  was  told  that  it  was  Dun- 
bar. When  I  came  thither,  and  had  put  up  at  an  inn, 
I  walked  to  the  steeple-house,  having  a  Friend  or 
two  with  me. 

When  we  came  to  the  steeple-house  yard,  one  of 
the  chief  men  of  the  town  was  walking  there.  I 
asked  one  of  the  Friends  that  was  with  me  to  go  to 
him  and  tell  him  that  about  the  ninth  hour  next 
morning  there  would  be  a  meeting  there  of  the  peo- 
ple of  God  called  Quakers;  of  which  we  desired  he 
would  give  notice  to  the  people  of  the  town.  He 
sent  me  word  that  they  were  to  have  a  lecture  there 
by  the  ninth  hour;  bixt  that  we  might  have  our  meet- 
ing there  by  the  eighth  hour,  if  we  would.  We  con- 
cluded to  do  so,  and  desired  him  to  give  notice  of  it. 

Accordingly,  in  the  morning  both  poor  and  rich 
came;  and  there  being  a  captain  of  horse  quartered 
in  the  town,  he  and  his  troopers  came  also,  so  that 
we  had  a  large  concourse ;  and  a  glorious  meeting  it 
was,  the  Lord's  power  being  over  all.  After  some 
time  the  priest  came,  and  went  into  the  steeple- 
house;  but  we  being  in  the  yard,  most  of  the  people 
stayed  with  us.  Friends  were  so  full  and  their  voices 
so  high  in  the  power  of  God,  that  the  priest  could 
do  little  in  the  house,  but  quickly  came  out  again, 
stood  awhile,  and  then  went  his  way. 

I  opened  to  the  people  where  they  might  find 


In  the  Home  of  the  Covenanters.  315 

Christ  Jesus,  and  turned  them  to  the  Light  mth 
which  He  had  enlightened  them,  that  in  the  Light 
they  might  see  Christ  who  died  for  them,  turn  to 
Him,  and  know  him  to  be  their  Saviour  and  Teacher. 
I  let  them  see  that  the  teachers  they  had  hitherto 
followed  were  hirelings,  who  made  the  gospel  charge- 
able; showed  them  the  wrong  ways  they  had  walked 
in  in  the  night  of  apostasy;  directed  them  to  Christ, 
the  new  and  living  way  to  God,  and  manifested  unto 
them  how  they  had  lost  the  religion  and  worship 
which  Christ  set  up  in  spirit  and  truth,  and  had  hith- 
erto been  in  the  religions  and  worships  of  men's  mak- 
ing and  setting  up. 

After  I  had  turned  the  people  to  the  Spirit  of  God 
which  led  the  holy  men  of  God  to  give  forth  the 
Scriptures,  and  showed  them  that  they  must  also 
come  to  receive  and  be  led  by  the  same  Spirit  in 
themselves  (a  measure  of  which  was  given  unto  every 
one  of  them)  if  ever  they  would  come  to  know  God 
and  Christ  and  the  Scriptures  aright,  perceiving  the 
other  Friends  to  be  full  of  power  and  the  Word  of 
the  Lord,  I  stepped  down,  giving  way  for  them  to  de- 
clare what  they  had  from  the  Lord  to  the  people. 

Towards  the  latter  end  of  the  meeting  some  profes- 
sors began  to  jangle,  whereupon  I  stood  up  again,  and 
answered  their  questions,  so  that  they  seemed  to  be 
satisfied,  and  our  meeting  ended  in  the  Lord's  power, 
quiet  and  peaceable. 

This  was  the  last  meeting  I  had  in  Scotland;  the 
Truth  and  the  power  of  God  was  set  over  that  nation, 
and  many,  by  the  power  and  Spirit  of  God,  were 
turned  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  their  Saviour  and 


316         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography, 


Teacher,  whose  blood  was  shed  for  them;  and  there  ia 
since  a  great  increase  and  great  there  will  be  in  Scot- 
land. For  when  first  I  set  my  horse's  feet  upon  Scot- 
tish ground  I  felt  the  Seed  of  God  to  sparkle  about 
me,  like  innumerable  sparks  of  fire. 

Not  but  that  there  is  abundance  of  the  thick, 
cloddy  earth  of  hypocrisy  and  falseness  above,  and  a 
briery,  brambly  nature,  which  is  to  be  burnt  up  with 
God's  Word,  and  ploughed  up  with  His  spiritual 
plough,  before  God's  Seed  brings  forth  heavenly  and 
spiritual  fruit  to  His  glory.  But  the  husbandman  is 
to  wait  in  patience.^ 


This  passage  has  suggested  the  idea  which  finds 
beautiful  expression  in  the  closing  stanzas  of  Whittier's 
"  Barclay  of  Ury  ": 

"  Knowing  this,  that  never  yet 
Share  of  truth  was  vainly  set 

In  the  world's  wide  fallow  ; 
After  hands  shall  sow  the  seed, 
After  hands  from  mill  and  mead 

Eeap  the  harvests  yellow. 

"  Thus  with  somewhat  of  the  seer 
Must  the  moral  pioneer 

From  the  future  borrow  ; 
Clothe  the  waste  with  dreams  of  grain. 
And,  on  midnight's  sky  of  rain 

Paint  the  golden  morrow." 


CHAPTER  XII. 


(Jlreat  lEbents  in  ILoniJon* 

1658-1  fi59. 

We  came  into  Bedfordshire,  where  we  had  large 
gatherings  in  the  name  of  Jesus. ^  After  some  time 
we  came  to  John  Crook's,  where  a  general  yearly 
meeting  for  the  whole  nation  was  appointed  to  be 
held.^  This  meeting  lasted  three  days,  and  many 
Friends  from  most  parts  of  the  nation  came  to  it; 
so  that  the  inns  and  towns  round  thereabouts  were 
filled,  for  many  thousands  of  people  were  at  it.  And 
although  there  was  some  disturbance  by  some  rude 
people  that  had  run  out  from  Truth,  yet  the  Lord's 


^  There  were  few  novel  experiences  on  the  way  from 
Scotland  to  Bedfordshire.  At  Nottingham  he  had  a 
controversy  with  Rice  Jones,  an  opposer  of  the  earlier 
visit.  He  pointed  out  that  many  of  Rice  Jones's  fol- 
lowers "  were  become  the  greatest  foot-ball  players  and 
wrestlers  in  the  whole  country,"  which  is  an  interest- 
ing comment  on  the  ministry  of  Rice  Jones! 

''"John  Crook's  House"  was  at  Luton,  in  Bedford- 
shire. This  is  among  the  first  of  the  great  national  gen- 
eral meetings  out  of  which  came  in  course  of  develop- 
ment the  present  London  Yearly  Meeting  of  Friends. 
The  first  general  meeting  was  held  at  Swannington  in 
Leicestershire  in  1654.  Isaac  Penington  was  con- 
vinced at  this  meeting.  He  tells  us  that  he  "  felt  the 
healings  drop  upon  his  soul  from  under  His  wings." 


318         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


power  came  over  all,  and  a  glorious  meeting  it  was. 
The  everlasting  gospel  was  preached,  and  many  re- 
ceived it,  which  gospel  brought  life  and  immortality 
to  light  in  them,  and  shined  over  all. 

Now  these  things  were  upon  me  to  open  unto  all, 
that  they  might  mind  and  see  what  it  is  they  sit  down 
in.* 

"  First,  They  that  sit  down  in  Adam  in  the  fall,  sit 
down  in  misery,  in  death,  in  darkness  and  corruption. 

"  Secondly,  They  that  sit  down  in  the  types,  fig- 
ures, and  shadows,  and  under  the  first  priesthood, 
law,  and  covenant,  sit  down  in  that  which  must  have 
an  end,  and  which  made  nothing  perfect. 

"  Thirdly,  They  that  sit  down  in  the  apostasy  that 
hath  got  up  since  the  Apostles'  days,  sit  down  in  spir- 
itual Sodom  and  Egypt;  and  are  drinking  of  the 
whore's  cup,  under  the  beast's  and  dragon's  power. 

"  Fourthly,  They  that  sit  down  in  the  state  in 
which  Adam  was  before  he  fell,  sit  down  in  that 
which  may  be  fallen  from;  for  he  fell  from  that  state, 
though  it  was  perfect. 

"  Fifthly,  They  that  sit  down  in  the  prophets,  sit 
down  in  that  which  must  be  fulfilled;  and  they  that 
sit  down  in  the  fellowship  of  water,  bread,  and  wine, 
these  being  temporal  things,  they  sit  down  in  that 
which  is  short  of  Christ,  and  of  His  baptism. 

"  Sixthly,  To  sit  down  in  a  profession  of  all  the 
Scriptures,  from  Genesis  to  the  Revelations,  and  not 
be  in  the  power  and  Spirit  whicH  those  were  in  that 
gave  them  forth; — ^that  was  to  be  turned  away  from 

*  The  sentence  means :  "  I  felt  called  to  set  forth  the  significance  of 
various  religious  stat«8  and  the  things  to  which  they  lead." 


Great  Events  in  London.  319 


by  them  that  came  into  the  power  and  Spirit  which 
those  were  in  that  gave  forth  the  Scriptures. 

"  Seventhly,  They  that  sit  down  in  the  heavenly 
places  in  Christ  Jesus,  sit  down  in  Him  that  never 
fell,  nor  ever  changed." 

After  this  meeting  was  over,  and  most  of  the 
Friends  gone  away,  as  I  was  walking  in  John  Crook's 
garden,  there  came  a  party  of  horse,  with  a  consta- 
ble, to  seize  me.  I  heard  them  ask,  "  Who  is  in  the 
house  ?  "  Somebody  made  answer  that  I  was  there. 
They  said  that  I  was  the  man  they  looked  for;  and 
went  forthwith  into  the  house,  where  they  had  many 
words  with  John  Crook  and  some  few  Friends  that 
were  with  him.  But  the  Lord's  power  so  confounded 
them  that  they  came  not  into  the  garden  to  look  for 
me;  but  went  their  way  in  a  rage. 

When  I  came  into  the  house.  Friends  were  very 
glad  to  see  that  I  had  escaped  them.  Next  day  I 
passed  thence;  and,  after  I  had  visited  Friends  in 
several  places,  came  to  London,  the  Lord's  power 
accompanying  me,  and  bearing  me  up  in  His  service. 

louring  the  time  I  was  at  London  I  had  many  ser- 
vices laid  upon  me,  for  it  was  a  time  of  much  suffer- 
ing. I  was  moved  to  write  to  Oliver  Cromwell,  and 
lay  before  him  the  sufferings  of  Friends  both  in  this 
nation  and  in  Ireland.  There  was  also  a  talk 
about  this  time  of  making  Cromwell  king;  where- 
upon I  was  moved  to  go  to  him  and  warn  him  against 
accepting  it;  and  of  divers  dangers  which,  if  he  did 
not  avoid  them,  would,  I  told  him,  bring  shame  and 
ruin  upon  himself  and  his  posterity.  He  seemed  to 
take  well  what  I  said  to  him,  and  thanked  me;  yet 


320         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


afterwards  I  was  moved  to  write  to  him  more  fully 
concerning  that  matter. 

About  this  time  the  Lady  Claypole  (so  called)  was 
sick,  and  much  troubled  in  mind,  and  could  receive 
no  comfort  from  any  that  came  to  her.  When  I 
heard  of  this  I  was  moved  to  write  to  her.* 


^  Here  is  a  long  extract  from  the  letter  to  Lady  Clay- 
pole,  Cromwell's  daughter,  who  died  soon  after  this 
time: 

"  Keep  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord  God;  that  is  the  Word 
of  the  Lord  unto  thee.  For  all  these  things  happen  to 
thee  for  thy  good,  and  for  the  good  of  those  concerned 
for  thee,  to  make  you  know  yourselves  and  your  own 
weakness,  that  ye  may  know  the  Lord's  strength  and 
power,  and  may  trust  in  Him.  Let  the  time  past  be 
sufficient  to  every  one,  who  in  any  thing  hath  been 
lifted  up  in  transgression  out  of  the  power  of  the  Lord; 
for  He  can  bring  down  and  abase  the  mighty,  and  lay 
them  in  the  dust  of  the  earth.  Therefore,  all  keep  low 
in  His  fear,  that  thereby  ye  may  receive  the  secrets  of 
God  and  His  wisdom,  may  know  the  shadow  of  the 
Almighty,  and  sit  under  it  in  all  tempests,  storms,  and 
heats.  For  God  is  a  God  at  hand,  and  the  Most  High 
rules  in  the  children  of  men.  This  is  the  word  of  the 
Lord  God  unto  you  all;  what  the  Light  doth  make  mani- 
fest and  discover,  as  temptations,  distractions,  confu- 
sions; do  not  look  at  these  temptations,  confusions,  cor- 
ruptions, but  at  the  Light  which  discovers  them  and 
makes  them  manifest;  and  with  the  same  Light  you  may 
feel  over  them,  to  receive  power  to  stand  against  them. 
The  same  Light  which  letsyou  see  sinand  transgression, 
will  let  you  see  the  covenant  of  God,  which  blots  out 


Great  Events  in  London,  321 


About  this  time  came  forth,  a  declaration  from 
Oliver  Cromwell,  the  Protector,  for  a  collection  to- 
wards the  relief  of  divers  Protestant  churches,  driven 
out  of  Poland;  and  of  twenty  Protestant  families, 
driven  out  of  the  confines  of  Bohemia.  And  there 
having  been  a  like  declaration  published  some  time 


your  sin  and  transgression,  which  gives  victory  and 
dominion  over  it,  and  brings  into  covenant  with  God. 
For  looking  down  at  sin,  corruption,  and  distraction, 
ye  are  swallowed  up  in  it;  but  looking  at  the  Light, 
which  discovers  them,  ye  will  see  over  them.  That  will 
give  victory,  and  ye  will  find  grace  and  strength;  there 
is  the  first  step  to  peace.  That  will  bring  salvation;  by 
it  ye  may  see  to  the  beginning,  and  the  '  Glory  that  was 
with  the  Father  before  the  world  began';  and  come  to 
know  the  Seed  of  God,  which  is  the  heir  of  the  promise 
of  God,  and  of  the  world  which  hath  no  end;  and  which 
bruises  the  head  of  the  serpent,  who  stops  people  from 
coming  to  God.  That  ye  may  feel  the  power  of  an  end- 
less life,  the  power  of  God  which  is  immortal,  which 
brings  the  immortal  soul  up  to  the  immortal  God,  in 
whom  it  doth  rejoice.  So  in  the  name  and  power  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  God  Almighty  strengthen  thee. 

"  G.  F." 

This  note  follows  the  letter: 

"  When  the  foregoing  paper  was  read  to  Lady  Clay- 
pole,  she  said,  it  stayed  her  mind  for  the  present.  After- 
wards many  Friends  got  copies  of  it,  both  in  England 
and  Ireland,  and  read  it  to  people  that  were  troubled 
in  miud;  and  it  was  made  useful  for  the  settling  of  the 
minds  of  several." 


322         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


before,  to  invite  the  nation  to  a  day  of  solemn  fast- 
ing and  humiliation,  in  order  to  a  contribution  being 
made  for  the  suffering  Protestants  of  the  valleys  of 
Lucerne,  Angrona,  etc.,  who  were  persecuted  by  the 
Duke  of  Savoy,*  I  was  moved  to  write  to  the  Pro- 
tector and  chief  magistrates  on  this  occasion,  both  to 
show  them  the  nature  of  a  true  fast  (such  as  God 
requires  and  accepts),  and  to  make  them  sensible  of 
their  injustice  and  self-condemnation  in  blaming  the 
Papists  for  persecuting  the  Protestants  abroad,  while 
they  themselves,  calling  themselves  Protestants, 
were  at  the  same  time  persecuting  their  Protestant 
neighbours  and  friends  at  home. 

Divers  times,  both  in  the  time  of  the  Long  Parlia- 
ment and  of  the  Protector  (so  called)  and  of  the 
Committee  of  Safety,  when  they  proclaimed  fasts,  I 
was  moved  to  write  to  them,  and  tell  them  their  fasts 
were  like  unto  Jezebel's;  for  commonly,  when  they 
proclaimed  fasts,  there  was  some  mischief  contrived 
against  us.  I  knew  their  fasts  were  for  strife  and 
debate,  to  smite  with  the  fist  of  wickedness;  as  the 
New  England  professors  soon  after  did;  who,  before 
they  put  our  Friends  to  death,  proclaimed  a  fast 
also. 

'Now  it  was  a  time  of  great  suffering;  and  many 
Friends  being  in  prisons,  many  other  Friends  were 
moved  to  go  to  the  Parliament,  to  offer  themselves 


*  This  was  the  persecution  which  called  forth  Mil- 
ton's great  sonnet: 

"  Avenge,  O  Lord  !  thy  slaughtered  saints  whose  bones 
Lie  scattered  on  the  Alpine  mountains  cold." 


Great  Events  in  London.  323 


up  to  lie  in  the  same  prisons  where  their  friends  lay, 
that  those  in  prison  might  go  forth,  and  not  perish, 
in  the  stinking  jails.  This  we  did  in  love  to  God  and 
our  brethren,  that  they  might  not  die  in  prison;  and 
in  love  to  those  that  cast  them  in,  that  they  might 
not  bring  innocent  blood  upon  their  own  heads, 
which  we  knew  would  cry  to  the  Lord,  and  bring  His 
wrath,  vengeance,  and  plagues  upon  them. 

But  little  favour  could  we  find  from  those  profess- 
ing Parliaments;  instead  thereof,  they  would  rage, 
and  sometimes  threaten  Friends  that  attended  them, 
to  whip  and  send  them  home.  Then  commonly  soon 
after  the  Lord  would  turn  them  out,  and  send  them 
home;  who  had  not  an  heart  to  do  good  in  the  day 
of  their  power.  But  they  went  not  off  without  being 
forewarned;  for  I  was  moved  to  write  to  them,  in 
their  several  turns,  as  I  did  to  the  Long  Parliament, 
unto  whom  I  declared,  before  they  were  broken  up, 
"  that  thick  darkness  was  coming  over  them  all,  even 
a  day  of  darkness  that  should  be  felt." 

And  because  the  Parliament  that  now  sat  was 
made  up  mostly  of  high  professors,  who,  pretending 
to  be  more  religious  than  others,  were  indeed  greater 
persecutors  of  those  that  were  truly  religious,  I  was 
moved  to  send  them  the  following  lines,  as  a  reproof 
of  their  hypocrisy:^ 

"  O  friends,  do  not  cloak  and  cover  yourselves; 
there  is  a  God  that  knoweth  your  hearts,  and  that 
will  uncover  you.  He  seeth  your  way.  '  Wo  be  unto 
him  that  covereth,  but  not  with  my  Spirit,  saith  the 


'  This  was  Cromwell's  Second  Parliament. 


324         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


Lord.'  Do  ye  act  contrary  to  the  law,  and  then  put 
it  from  you !  Mercy  and  true  judgment  ye  neglect. 
Look,  what  was  spoken  against  such.  My  Saviour 
spoke  against  such ;  '  I  was  sick,  and  ye  visited  me 
not;  1  was  hungry,  and  ye  fed  me  not;  I  was  a 
stranger,  and  ye  took  me  not  in;  I  was  in  prison,  and 
ye  visited  me  not.'  But  they  said,  '  When  saw  we 
thee  in  prison,  and  did  not  come  to  thee  ? '  '  Inas- 
much as  ye  did  it  not  unto  one  of  these  little  ones, 
ye  did  it  not  unto  me.'  Friends,  ye  imprison  them 
that  are  in  the  life  and  power  of  Truth,  and  yet  pro- 
fess to  be  the  ministers  of  Christ;  but  if  Christ  had 
sent  you,  ye  would  bring  out  of  prison,  out  of  bond- 
age, and  receive  strangers.  Ye  have  lived  in  pleas- 
ure on  the  earth,  and  been  wanton;  ye  have  nour- 
ished your  hearts,  as  in  a  day  of  slaughter;  ye  have 
condemned  and  killed  the  just,  and  he  doth  not  re- 
sist you.  G.  F." 

After  this,  as  I  was  going  out  of  town,  having  two 
Friends  with  me,  when  we  were  little  more  than  a 
mile  out  of  the  city,  there  met  us  two  troopers  be- 
longing to  Colonel  Hacker's  regiment,  who  took  me, 
and  the  Friends  that  were  with  me,  and  brought  us 
back  to  the  Mews,  and  there  kept  us  prisoners.  But 
the  Lord's  power  was  so  over  them  that  they  did  not 
take  us  before  any  officer;  but  shortly  after  set  iis 
at  liberty  again. 

The  same  day,  taking  boat,  I  went  to  Kingston, 
and  thence  to  Hampton  Court,  to  speak  with  the  Pro- 
tector about  the  sufferings  of  Friends.  I  met  him 
riding  in  Hampton  Court  Park,  and  before  I  came 


Great  Events  in  London.  325 


to  him,  as  he  rode  at  the  head  of  his  life-guard,  I  saw 
and  felt  a  waft  [or  apparition]  of  death  go  forth 
against  him;  and  when  I  came  to  him  he  looked  like 
a  dead  man. 

After  I  had  laid  the  sufferings  of  Friends  before 
him,  and  had  warned  him,  according  as  I  was  moved 
to  speak  to  him,  he  bade  me  come  to  his  house.  So 
I  returned  to  Kingston,  and  next  day  went  to  Hamp- 
ton Court,  to  speak  further  with  him.    But  when  I 

came  he  was  sick,  and  Harvey,*  who  was  one 

that  waited  on  him,  told  me  the  doctors  were  not 
willing  I  should  speak  with  him.  So  I  passed  away, 
and  never  saw  him  more.^ 

From  Kingston  I  went  to  Isaac  Penington's,''  in 
Buckinghamshire,  where  I  had  appointed  a  meeting, 
and  the  Lord's  Truth  and  power  were  preciously 

*  Harvey  was  "  groom  of  the  bed  chamber." 


*  This  visit  of  Fox  to  Cromwell  is  treated  in  Carlyle's 
Oliver  Cromwell,  Vol  IV.,  pp.  199,  200.  Oliver  Crom- 
well died  September  3d,  1658.  This  "  waft  "  or  whiff  of 
death  which  Fox  felt  was  not  the  only  forewarning  of 
his  end  which  came  to  Friends.  A  letter  was  delivered 
into  Cromwell's  hand  a  month  before  his  death,  which 
contained  these  words:  "If  thou  continueth  in  thy  op- 
pression, the  Lord  will  suddenly  smite  thee."  See 
Burrough's  "  Good  Counsel  and  Advice  Rejected  by 
Disobedient  Men." 

Isaac  Penington  was  one  of  the  finest,  richest 
spirits  that  came  under  the  influence  of  Fox.  He  was 
highest  in  social  rank  of  all  the  early  Friends,  and  after 
Fox  liimself  the  best  exponent  of  the  fundamental 
Quaker  idea. 


326         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


manifested  amongst  us.  After  I  had  visited  Friends 
in  those  parts,  I  returned  to  London,  and  soon  after 
went  into  Essex,  where  I  had  not  been  long  before 
I  heard  that  the  Protector  was  dead,  and  his  son 
Kichard  made  Protector  in  his  room.  Thereupon  I 
came  up  to  London  again. 

Before  this  time  the  church  faith  (so  called)  was 
given  forth,  which  was  said  to  have  been  made  at  the 
Savoy  in  eleven  days'  time.*  I  got  a  copy  before  it 
was  published,  and  wrote  an  answer  to  it;  and  when 
their  book  of  chiirch  faith  was  sold  in  the  streets,  my 
answer  to  it  was  sold  also.  This  angered  some  of  the 
Parliament  men,  so  that  one  of  them  told  me,  "  We 
must  have  you  to  Smithfield."  I  told  him,  "  I  am 
above  your  fires,  and  fear  them  not."  And,  reason- 
ing with  him,  I  wished  him  to  consider,  had  all  peo- 
ple been  without  a  faith  these  sixteen  hundred  years, 
that  now  the  priests  must  make  them  one  ?  Did  not 
the  apostle  say  that  Jesus  was  the  author  and  finisher 
of  their  faith  ?  And  since  Christ  Jesus  was  the  au- 
thor of  the  Apostles'  faith,  of  the  Church's  faith  in 
primitive  times,  and  of  the  martyrs'  faith,  should  not 


*  This  "  Church-faith  (so-called)  "  was  a  "  Declara- 
tion of  the  Faith  and  Order  owned  and  practiced  in  the 
Congregational  Churches  in  England:  Agreed  upon  and 
consented  unto  by  their  Elders  and  messengers  in  their 
meeting  at  the  Savoy,  October  12th,  1658."  Fox's  reply 
has  the  following  title:  "  Something  in  Answer  to  that 
Book  called,  The  Church-Faith:  Set  forth  by  Independ- 
ants  (sic)  and  others;  agreed  upon  by  Divine  messen- 
gers at  the  Savoy  in  London." 


Great  Events  in  London.  32? 


all  people  look  unto  Him  to  be  the  author  and  fin- 
isher of  their  faith,  and  not  to  the  priests?  Much 
work  we  had  about  the  priest-made  faith. 

There  was  great  persecution  in  many  places,  both 
by  imprisoning,  and  by  breaking  up  of  meetings.  At 
a  meeting  about  seven  miles  from  London,  the  rude 
people  usually  came  out  of  several  parishes  round 
about,  to  abuse  Friends,  and  often  beat  and  bruised 
them  exceedingly.  One  day  they  abused  about 
eighty  Friends  that  went  to  that  meeting  out  of  Lon- 
don, tearing  their  coats  and  cloaks  from  off  their 
backs,  and  throwing  them  into  ditches  and  ponds; 
and  when  they  had  besmeared  them  with  dirt,  they 
said  they  looked  like  witches. 

The  next  First-day  I  was  moved  of  the  Lord  to  go 
to  that  meeting,  though  I  was  then  very  weak. 
When  I  came  there  I  bade  Friends  bring  a  table,  and 
set  it  in  the  close,  where  they  used  to  meet,  to  stand 
upon.  According  to  their  wonted  course,  the  rude 
people  came;  and  I,  having  a  Bible  in  my  hand, 
showed  them  theirs  and  their  teachers'  fruits;  and 
the  people  became  ashamed,  and  were  quiet. 

But  it  was  a  time  of  great  sufferings;  for,  besides 
imprisonments,  through  which  many  died,  our  meet- 
ings were  greatly  disturbed.  They  have  thrown  rot- 
ten eggs  and  wild-fire  into  our  meetings,  and  brought 
in  drums  beating,  and  kettles  to  make  noises  with, 
that  the  Truth  might  not  be  heard;  and,  among  these, 
the  priests  were  as  rude  as  any,  as  may  be  seen  in  the 
book  of  the  fighting  priests,  wherein  a  list  is  given 
of  some  priests  that  had  actually  beaten  and  abused 
Friends. 


328         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography, 


Many  Friends  were  brought  prisoners  to  London, 
to  be  tried  before  the  Committee;  where  Henry 
Vane,  being  chairman,  would  not  suffer  Friends  to 
come  in,  except  they  would  put  off  their  hats.*  But 
at  last  the  Lord's  power  came  over  him,  so  that, 
through  the  mediation  of  others,  they  were  admitted. 
Many  of  us  having  been  imprisoned  upon  contempts 
(as  they  called  them)  for  not  putting  off  our  hats, 
it  was  not  a  likely  thing  that  Friends,  who  had  suf- 
fered so  long  for  it  from  others,  should  put  off  their 
hats  to  him.  But  the  Lord's  power  came  over  all, 
and  wrought  so  that  several  were  set  at  liberty  by 
them. 

I  wrote  to  Oliver  several  times,  and  let  him  know 
that  while  he  was  persecuting  God's  people,  they 
whom  he  accounted  his  enemies  were  preparing  to 
come  upon  him.  When  some  forward  spirits  that 
came  amongst  us  would  have  bought  Somerset- 
House,  that  we  might  have  meetings  in  it,  I  forbade 
them  to  do  so:  for  I  then  foresaw  the  King's  coming 
in  again.  Besides,  there  came  a  woman  to  me  in  the 
Strand,  who  had  a  prophecy  concerning  King 
Charles's  coming  in,  three  years  before  he  came:  and 


*  From  being  Cromwell's  most  intimate  friend  Sir 
Harry  Vane  had  become  his  most  fearless  opposer,  and 
an  advocate  of  extreme  republicanism.  After  the  down- 
fall of  Richard  Cromwell,  Vane  had  a  brief  return  to 
influence  and  power.  In  September,  1659,  he  was  made 
President  of  the  Council,  and  was  in  this  position  the 
executive  head  of  the  nation  in  civil  affairs.  This  epi- 
sode must,  therefore,  be  dated  in  the  autumn  of  1659. 


Great  Events  in  London. 


329 


she  told  me  she  must  go  to  him  to  declare  it.  I  ad- 
vised her  to  wait  upon  the  Lord,  and  keep  it  to  her- 
seK;  for  if  it  should  be  known  that  she  went  on  such 
a  message,  they  would  look  upon  it  to  be  treason:  but 
she  said  she  must  go,  and  tell  him  that  he  should  be 
brought  into  England  again. 

I  saw  her  prophecy  was  true,  and  that  a  great 
stroke  must  come  upon  them  in  power;  for  they  that 
had  then  got  possession  were  so  exceeding  high,  and 
such  great  persecution  was  acted  by  them,  who  called 
themselves  saints,  that  they  would  take  from  Friends 
their  copyhold  lands,  because  they  could  not  swear 
in  their  courts. 

Sometimes  when  we  laid  these  sufferings  before 
Oliver  Cromwell,  he  would  not  believe  it.  Therefore 
Thomas  Aldam  and  Anthony  Pearson  were  moved 
to  go  through  all  the  jails  in  England,  and  to  get 
copies  of  Friends'  commitments  under  the  jailer's 
hands,  that  they  might  lay  the  weight  of  their  suffer- 
ings upon  Oliver  Cromwell.  And  when  he  would  not 
give  order  for  the  releasing  of  them,  Thomas  Aldam 
was  moved  to  take  his  cap  from  off  his  head,  and  to 
rend  it  in  pieces  before  him,  and  to  say  unto  him, 
"  So  shall  thy  government  be  rent  from  thee  and  thy 
house." 

Another  Friend  also,  a  woman,  was  moved  to  go 
to  the  Parliament  (that  was  envious  against  Friends) 
with  a  pitcher  in  her  hand,  which  she  broke  into 
pieces  before  them,  and  told  them  that  so  should  they 
be  broken  to  pieces:  which  came  to  pass  shortly 
after. 

In  ray  great  suffering  and  travail  of  spirit  for  the 


330         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

nation,  being  grievously  burdened  with  their  hypoc- 
risy, treachery,  and  falsehood,  I  saw  God  would 
bring  that  over  them  which  they  had  been  above; 
and  that  all  must  be  brought  down  to  that  which  con- 
vinced them,  before  they  could  get  over  that  bad 
spirit  within  and  without:  for  it  is  the  pure,  invisible 
Spirit,  that  doth  and  only  can  work  down  all  deceit 
in  people. 

Xow  was  there  a  great  pother  made  about  the 
image  or  effigy  of  Oliver  Cromwell  lying  in  state; 
men  standing  and  sounding  with  trumpets  over  his 
image,  after  he  was  dead.  At  this  my  spirit  was 
greatly  grieved,  and  the  Lord,  I  found,  was  highly 
offended. 

About  this  time  great  stirs  were  in  the  nation,  the 
minds  of  people  being  unsettled.  Much  plotting  and 
contriving  there  was  by  the  several  factions,  to  carry 
on  their  several  interests.  And  a  great  care  being 
upon  me,  lest  any  young  or  ignorant  people, 
that  might  sometimes  come  amongst  us,  should  be 
drawn  into  that  snare,  I  was  moved  to  give  forth  an 
epistle    as  a  warning  unto  all  such. 

^°  This  epistle  begins:  "All  Friends  everywhere  keep 
out  of  plots  and  bustling  and  the  arm  of  flesh."  A 
little  later  he  writes  again: 

"  Stand  in  the  fear  and  dread  of  the  Lord  God;  His 
power,  life,  light,  seed  and  wisdom,  by  which  ye  may 
take  away  the  occasion  of  wars,  and  so  know  a  kingdom 
which  hath  no  end,  and  fight  for  that  with  spiritual 
weapons,  which  takes  away  the  occasion  of  the  carnal; 
and  there  gather  men  to  war,  as  many  as  ye  can,  and 
set  up  as  many  as  ye  can  with  these  weapons.    G.  F," 


CHAPTEE  XIII. 


In  t\}e  JFirst  gear  of  Iting  €\}Rvltfi* 

1660. 

I  entered  Bristol  on  the  Seventh  day  of  the  week.^ 

The  day  before,  the  soldiers  came  with  their  muskets 
into  the  meeting,  and  were  exceedingly  rude,  beating 
and  striking  Friends  with  them,  and  drove  them  out 
of  the  orchard  in  a  great  rage,  threatening  what  they 
would  do  if  Friends  came  there  again.  For  the  mayor 
and  the  commander  of  the  soldiers  had,  it  seems, 
combined  together  to  make  a  disturbance  amongst 
Friends. 

When  Friends  told  me  what  a  rage  there  was  in 
the  town,  how  they  were  threatened  by  the  mayor 
and  soldiers,  and  how  unruly  the  soldiers  had  been 
the  day  before,  I  sent  for  several  Friends,  as  George 
Bishop,  Thomas  Gouldney,  Thomas  Speed,  and  Ed- 
ward Pyot,  and  desired  them  to  go  to  the  mayor  and 
aldermen,  and  request  them,  seeing  he  and  they  had 
broken  up  our  meetings,  to  let  Friends  have  the 
town-hall  to  meet  in.  For  the  use  of  it  Friends  would 
give  them  twenty  pounds  a-year,  to  be  distributed 
amongst  the  poor  and  when  the  mayor  and  aldermen 


'  After  leaving  London,  he  had  travelled  extensively 
through  the  eastern  and  southern  counties,  revisiting 
Cornwall,  where  he  had  had  such  a  long  experience  in 
Launeeston  jail  in  1656. 


332         George  Fox:  An  Autoliography. 

had  business  to  do  in  it,  Friends  would  not  meet  in 
it,  but  only  on  First-days. 

These  Friends  were  astonished  at  this,  and  said 
the  mayor  and  aldermen  would  think  that  they  were 
mad.  I  said,  Nay;  for  this  would  be  a  considerable 
benefit  to  the  poor.  And  it  was  upon  me  from  the 
Lord  to  bid  them  go.  At  last  they  consented,  and 
went,  though  in  the  cross  to  their  own  wills. 

When  they  had  laid  the  thing  before  the  mayor,  he 
said,  "  For  my  part  I  could  consent  to  it,  but  I  am 
but  one  ";  and  he  told  Friends  of  another  great  hall 
they  might  have;  but  that  they  did  not  accept,  it 
being  inconvenient. 

So  Friends  came  away,  leaving  the  mayor  in  a  very 
loving  frame  towards  them;  for  they  felt  the  Lord's 
power  had  come  over  him.  When  they  came  back,  I 
spoke  to  them  to  go  also  to  the  colonel  that  com- 
manded the  soldiers,  and  lay  before  him  the  rude 
conduct  of  his  soldiers,  how  they  came  armed 
amongst  innocent  people,  who  were  waiting  upon  and 
worshipping  the  Lord ;  but  they  were  backward  to  go 
to  him. 

Next  morning,  being  First-day,  we  went  to  the 
meeting  in  the  orchard,  where  the  soldiers  had  lately 
been  so  rude.  After  I  had  declared  the  Truth  some 
time  in  the  meeting,  there  came  in  many  rude  sol- 
diers and  people,  some  with  drawn  swords.  The  inn- 
keepers had  made  some  of  them  drunk;  and  one  had 
bound  himself  with  an  oath  to  cut  down  and  kill  the 
man  that  spoke.  He  came  pressing  in,  through  all 
the  crowd  of  people,  to  vpithin  two  yards  of  me,  and 
stopped  at  those  four  Friends  before  mentioned  (who 


In  the  First  Fear  of  King  Charles.  333 

should  have  gone  to  the  colonel  as  I  would  have  had 
them),  and  began  jangling  with  them.  Suddenly  I 
saw  his  sword  was  put  up  and  gone:  for  the  Lord's 
power  came  over  all,  and  chained  him  with  the  rest. 
We  had  a  blessed  meeting,  and  the  Lord's  everlasting 
power  and  presence  were  felt  amongst  us. 

On  the  day  following,  the  four  Friends  went  and 
spoke  with  the  colonel,  and  he  sent  for  the  soldiers, 
and  cut  and  slashed  some  of  them  before  the  Friends' 
faces.  When  I  heard  of  this  I  blamed  the  Friends 
for  letting  him  do  so,  and  also  that  they  did  not  go  on 
the  Seventh-day,  as  I  would  have  had  them,  which 
might  have  prevented  this  cutting  of  the  soldiers,  and 
the  trouble  they  gave  at  our  meeting.  But  thus  the 
Lord's  power  came  over  all  those  persecuting,  bloody 
minds,  and  the  meeting  there  was  held  in  peace  for  a 
good  while  after  without  disturbance. 

I  had  then  also  a  general  meeting  at  Edward 
Pyot's,  near  Bristol,  at  which  it  was  judged  were 
several  thousands  of  people:^  for  besides  Friends 
from  many  parts  thereabouts,  some  of  the  Baptists 
and  Independents,  with  their  teachers,  came  to  it,  and 
many  of  the  sober  people  of  Bristol;  insomuch  that 
the  people  who  stayed  behind  said  the  city  looked 
naked,  so  many  were  gone  out  of  it  to  this  meeting. 
It  was  very  quiet,  and  many  glorious  truths  were 
opened  to  the  people. 

As  we  had  much  work  with  priests  and  professors 
who  pleaded  for  imperfection,  I  was  opened  to  de- 


-  These  great  meetings  were  at  this  period  held  out 
of  doors,  in  fields  or  orchards,  or  on  some  high  hill. 


334         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

clare  and  manifest  to  them  that  Adam  and  Eve  were 
perfect  before  they  fell,  and  all  that  God  made  He 
saw  was  good,  and  He  blessed  it;  but  the  imperfec- 
tion came  in  by  the  fall,  through  man's  and  woman's 
hearkening  to  the  devil  who  was  out  of  Truth.  And 
though  the  law  made  nothing  perfect,  yet  it  made 
way  for  the  bringing  in  of  the  better  hope,  which 
hope  is  Christ,  who  destroys  the  devil  and  his  works, 
which  made  man  and  woman  imperfect. 

Christ  saith  to  His  disciples,  "  Be  ye  perfect,  even 
as  your  heavenly  Father  is  perfect  " :  and  He,  who 
Himself  was  perfect,  comes  to  make  man  and  woman 
perfect  again,  and  brings  them  again  to  the  state  in 
which  God  made  them.  So  He  is  the  maker-up  of 
the  breach,  and  the  peace  betwixt  God  and  man. 

That  this  might  the  better  be  understood  by  the 
lowest  capacities,  I  used  a  comparison  of  two  old 
people  who  had  their  house  broken  dovra  by  an 
enemy,  so  that  they,  with  aU  their  children,  were 
liable  to  all  storms  and  tempests.  And  there  came 
to  them  some  that  pretended  to  be  workmen,  and 
offered  to  build  up  their  house  again,  if  they  would 
give  them  so  much  a  year;  but  when  they  had  got 
the  money  they  left  the  house  as  they  found  it. 

After  this  manner  came  a  second,  third,  fourth, 
fifth,  and  sixth,  each  vsdth  his  several  pretence  to 
build  up  the  old  house,  and  each  got  the  people's 
money,  and  then  cried  that  they  could  not  rear  up 
the  house,  the  breach  could  not  be  made  up;  for 
there  is  no  perfection  here.  They  tell  the  old  people 
that  the  house  can  never  be  perfectly  built  up  again 


In  the  First  Year  of  King  Charles.  335 

in  this  life,  though  they  have  taken  the  people's 
money  for  doing  it. 

So  all  the  sect-masters  in  Christendom  (so  called) 
have  pretended  to  build  up  Adam's  and  Eve's  fallen 
house;  and  when  they  have  got  the  people's  money, 
they  tell  them  the  work  cannot  be  perfectly  done 
here;  so  their  house  lies  as  it  did.  But  I  told  the 
people  Christ  was  come  to  do  it  freely,  who  by  one 
offering  hath  perfected  for  ever  all  them  that  are 
sanctified,  and  renews  them  up  into  the  image  of 
God,  which  man  and  woman  were  in  before  they  fell, 
and  makes  man's  and  woman's  house  as  perfect  again 
as  God  made  them  at  the  first;  and  this  Christ,  the 
heavenly  Man,  doth  freely.  Therefore  all  are  to  look 
unto  Him,  and  all  that  have  received  Him  are  to 
walk  in  Him,  the  Life,  the  Substance,  the  First,  and 
the  Last,  the  Rock  of  Ages,  the  Foundation  of  many 
Generations. 

About  this  time  the  soldiers  under  General  Monk's 
command  were  rude  and  troublesome  at  Friends' 
meetings  in  many  places,  whereof  complaint  being 
made  to  him  he  gave  forth  the  following  order,  which 
somewhat  restrained  them: 

"  St.  James's,  the  9th  of  March,  1659. 

"  I  do  require  all  oflScers  and  soldiers  to  forbear  to 
disturb  the  peaceable  meetings  of  the  Quakers,  they 
doing  nothing  prejudicial  to  the  Parliament  or  Com- 
monwealth of  England.  George  Monk." 

We  passed  thence  to  Tewkesbury  and  so  to  Wor- 
cester, visiting  Friends  in  their  meetings  as  we  went. 


336         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

And  in  all  my  time  I  never  saw  such  drunkenness  as 
in  the  towns,  for  they  had  been  choosing  Parliament 
men.  At  Worcester  the  Lord's  Truth  was  set  over  all, 
people  were  finely  settled  therein,  and  Friends 
praised  the  Lord ;  nay,  I  saw  the  very  earth  rejoiced. 

Yet  great  fears  and  troubles  were  in  many  people, 
and  a  looking  for  the  King's  coming  in,  and  all  things 
being  altered.  They  would  ask  me  what  I  thought 
of  times  and  things.  I  told  them  the  Lord's  power 
was  over  all,  and  His  light  shone  over  all;  that  fear 
would  take  hold  only  on  the  hypocrites,  such  as  had 
not  been  faithful  to  God,  and  on  our  persecutors. 

In  my  travail  and  sufferings  at  Reading,  when  peo- 
ple were  at  a  stand,  and  could  not  tell  what  might 
come  in,  and  who  might  rule,  I  told  them  the  Lord's 
power  was  over  all  (for  I  had  travelled  through  in 
it),  and  His  day  shined,  whosoever  should  come  in; 
and  whether  the  King  came  in  or  not,  all  would  be 
well  to  them  that  loved  the  Lord,  and  were  faithful 
to  Him.  Therefore  I  bade  all  Friends  fear  none  but 
the  Lord,  and  keep  in  His  power. 

From  Worcester  I  visited  Friends  in  their  meet- 
ings, till  I  came  to  Badgley,  and  thence  I  went  to 
Drayton,  in  Leicestershire,  to  visit  my  relations. 
While  there,  one  Burton,  a  justice,  hearing  I  had  a 
good  horse,  sent  a  warrant  to  search  for  me  and  my 
horse;  but  I  was  gone  before  they  came;  and  so  he 
missed  of  his  wicked  end. 

I  passed  on  to  Tvpy-Cross,  Swannington,  and 
Derby,  where  I  visited  Friends,  and  found  amongst 
them  ray  old  jailer,  who  had  formerly  kept  me  in  the 


In  the  First  Year  of  King  Charles.  337 

house  of  correction  there,  now  convinced  of  the 
Truth  which  I  then  suffered  under  him  for. 

Passing  into  Derbyshire  and  Nottinghamshire,  I 
came  to  Synderhill-Green,  visiting  Friends  through 
all  those  parts  in  their  meetings,  and  so  on  to  Balby 
in  Yorkshire,  where  our  Yearly  Meeting  at  that  time 
was  held  in  a  great  orchard  of  John  Killam's,  where 
it  was  supposed  some  thousands  of  people  and 
Friends  were  gathered  together. 

In  the  morning  I  heard  that  a  troop  of  horse  was 
sent  from  York  to  break  up  our  meeting,  and  that 
the  militia,  newly  raised,  was  to  join  them.  I  went 
into  the  meeting,  and  stood  up  on  a  great  stool,  and 
after  I  had  spoken  some  time  two  trumpeters  came 
up,  sounding  their  trumpets  near  me,  and  the  captain 
of  the  troop  cried,  "  Divide  to  the  right  and  left,  and 
make  way."   Then  they  rode  up  to  me. 

I  was  declaring  the  everlasting  Truth  and  Word 
of  life  in  the  mighty  power  of  the  Lord.  The  captain 
bade  me  come  down,  for  he  was  come  to  disperse  our 
meeting.  After  some  time  I  told  him  they  all  knew 
we  were  a  peaceable  people,  and  used  to  have  such 
great  meetings;  but  if  he  apprehended  that  we  met  in 
a  hostile  way,  I  desired  him  to  make  search  among  us, 
and  if  he  found  either  sword  or  pistol  about  any 
there,  let  such  suffer. 

He  told  me  he  mxist  see  us  dispersed,  for  he  came 
all  night  on  purpose  to  disperse  us.  I  asked  him  what 
honour  it  would  be  to  him  to  ride  with  swords  and 
pistols  amongst  so  many  imarmed  men  and  women  as 
there  were.   If  he  would  be  still  and  quiet  our  meet- 


338         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography . 

ing  probably  might  not  continue  above  two  or  three 
hours;  and  when  it  was  done,  as  we  came  peaceably 
together,  so  we  should  part;  for  he  might  perceive 
the  meeting  was  so  large,  that  all  the  country  there- 
abouts could  not  entertain  them,  but  that  they  in- 
tended to  depart  towards  their  homes  at  night. 

He  said  he  could  not  stay  to  see  the  meeting  ended, 
but  must  disperse  them  before  he  went.  I  desired 
him,  then,  if  he  himself  could  not  stay,  that  he  would 
let  a  dozen  of  his  soldiers  stay,  and  see  the  order  and 
peaceableness  of  our  meeting.  He  said  he  would  per- 
mit us  an  hour's  time,  and  left  half  a  dozen  soldiers 
with  us.  Then  he  went  away  with  his  troop,  and 
Friends  of  the  house  gave  the  soldiers  that  stayed, 
and  their  horses,  some  meat. 

When  the  captain  was  gone  the  soldiers  that  were 
left  told  us  we  might  stay  till  night  if  we  would.  But 
we  stayed  but  about  three  hours  after,  and  had  a 
glorious,  powerful  meeting;  for  the  presence  of  the 
living  God  was  manifest  amongst  us,  and  the  Seed, 
Christ,  was  set  over  all.  Friends  were  built  upon 
Him,  the  foundation,  and  settled  under  His  glorious, 
heavenly  teaching. 

After  the  meeting  Friends  passed  away  in  peace, 
greatly  refreshed  with  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  and 
filled  with  joy  and  gladness  that  the  Lord's  power  had 
given  them  such  dominion.  Many  of  the  miHtia- 
soldiers  stayed  also,  much  vexed  that  the  captain  and 
troopers  had  not  broken  up  our  meeting;  and  cursed 
the  captain  and  his  troopers.  It  was  reported  that 
they  intended  evil  against  us  that  day;  but  the  troop- 


In  the  First  Year  of  King  Charles.  339 


ers,  instead  of  assisting  them,  were  rather  assistant 
to  us,  in  not  joining  them  as  they  expected,  but  pre- 
venting them  from  doing  the  mischief  they  designed. 

This  captain  was  a  desperate  man;  for  it  was  he 
that  said  to  me  in  Scotland  that  he  would  obey  his 
superior's  commands;  if  it  were  to  crucify  Christ  he 
would  do  it,  or  would  execute  the  great  Turk's  com- 
mands against  the  Christians  if  he  were  under  him. 
So  that  it  was  an  eminent  power  of  the  Lord  which 
chained  both  him  and  his  troopers,  and  those  envious 
miUtia-soldiers  also,  who  went  away,  not  having 
power  to  hurt  any  of  us,  nor  to  break  up  our  meeting. 

Next  day  we  had  an  heavenly  meeting  at  Warms- 
worth  of  Friends  in  the  ministry,  with  several  others; 
and  then  Friends  parted.  As  they  passed  through 
the  country  several  were  taken  up;  for  on  the  day  on 
which  our  first  meeting  was  held,  Lambert  was 
routed,  and  it  made  great  confusion  in  the  country; 
but  Friends  were  not  kept  long  in  prison  at  that 
time. 

As  I  went  to  this  meeting  there  came  to  me  several 
at  Skegby,  in  ^Nottinghamshire,  who  were  going  to 
be  soldiers  under  Lambert,  and  woiild  have  bought 
my  horse  of  me.  Because  I  would  not  sell  him,  they 
were  in  a  great  rage  against  me,  using  many  threat- 
ening words:  but  I  told  them  that  God  would  con- 
found and  scatter  them ;  and  within  two  or  three  days 
after  they  were  scattered  indeed. 

From  Warmsworth  I  passed,  in  the  Lord's  power, 
to  Barton  Abbey,  where  I  had  a  great  meeting; 
thence  to  Thomas  Taylor's;  and  so  on  to  Skipton, 


340         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


where  was  a  general  meeting  of  men  Friends  out  of 
many  counties  concerning  the  affairs  of  the  Church.' 

A  Friend  went  naked  through  the  town,  declaring 
Truth,  and  was  much  beaten.*  Some  other  Friends 
also  came  to  me  all  bloody.  As  I  walked  in  the 
street,  a  desperate  fellow  had  an  intent  to  do  me  mis- 
chief; but  he  was  prevented,  and  our  meeting  was 
quiet. 

To  this  meeting  came  many  Friends  out  of  most 
parts  of  the  nation;  for  it  was  about  business  relating 
to  the  Church  both  in  this  nation  and  beyond  the 
seas.  Several  years  before,  when  I  was  in  the  north, 
I  was  moved  to  recommend  to  Friends  the  setting  up 
of  this  meeting  for  that  service;  for  many  Friends 
had  suffered  in  divers  parts  of  the  nation,  their  goods 
were  taken  from  them  contrary  to  law,  and  they 
understood  not  how  to  help  themselves,  or  where  to 
seek  redress.'  But  after  this  meeting  was  set  up, 
several  Friends  who  had  been  magistrates,  and  others 
that  understood  something  of  the  law,  came  thither, 


^  This  meeting  for  the  affairs  of  the  Church,  held  at 
Skipton,  in  Yorkshire,  in  1659,  is  generally  considered 
to  be  the  original  yearly  meeting. 

*  "  Naked  "  means  naked  to  the  waist.  There  are  a 
few  other  instances  of  similar  actions  in  England  and 
America. 

'  This  is  the  beginning  of  what  was  later  known  as 
the  "  Meeting  for  Sufferings,"  which  has  been  through- 
out its  history  a  remarkable  body.  The  minutes  of  the 
Meeting  for  Sufferings  date  from  Fifth  month  22d, 
1675. 


In  the  First  Year  of  King  Charles.  341 

and  were  able  to  inform  Friends,  and  to  assist  them 
in  gathering  up  the  sufferings,  that  they  might  be 
laid  before  the  justices,  judges,  or  Parliament. 

This  meeting  had  stood  several  years,  and  divers 
justices  and  captains  had  come  to  break  it  up,  but 
when  they  understood  the  business  Friends  met 
about,  and  saw  their  books  and  accounts  of  collec- 
tions for  relief  of  the  poor,  how  we  took  care  one 
county  to  help  another,  and  to  help  our  Friends  be- 
yond the  seas,  and  provide  for  our  poor,  that  none 
of  them  should  be  chargeable  to  their  parishes,  etc., 
the  justices  and  officers  confessed  we  did  their  work, 
and  passed  away  peaceably  and  lovingly,  commending 
Friends'  practice. 

Sometimes  there  would  come  two  hundred  of  the 
poor  of  other  people,  and  wait  there  till  the  meeting 
was  done  (for  all  the  country  knew  we  met  about  the 
poor),  and  after  the  meeting  Friends  would  send  to 
the  bakers  for  bread,  and  give  every  one  of  these 
poor  people  a  loaf,  how  many  soever  there  were  of 
them;  for  we  were  taught  to  "do  good  imto  all; 
though  especially  to  the  household  of  faith." 

After  this  meeting  I  visited  Friends  in  their  meet- 
ings till  I  came  to  Lancaster;  whence  I  went  to 
Robert  Widders's,  and  so  on  to  Arnside,  where  I  had 
a  general  meeting  for  all  the  Friends  in  Westmore- 
land, Cumberland,  and  Lancashire.  It  was  quiet  and 
peaceable,  and  the  living  presence  of  the  Lord  was 
amongst  us.  I  went  back  with  Robert  Widders;  and 
Friends  all  passed  away,  fresh  in  the  life  and  power 
of  Christ,  in  which  they  had  dominion,  being  settled 
upon  Him,  the  heavenly  Rock  and  Foundation. 


342         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

I  went  next  day  to  Swarthmore,  Francis  Howgill 
and  Thomas  Curtis  being  with  me.  I  had  not  been 
long  there  before  Henry  Porter,  a  justice,  sent  a 
warrant  by  the  chief  constable  and  three  petty  con- 
stables to  apprehend  me.  I  had  a  sense  of  this  before- 
hand; and  being  in  the  parlor  with  Richard  Eichard- 
son  and  Margaret  Fell,  her  servants  came  and  told 
her  there  were  some  come  to  search  the  house  for 
arms;  and  they  went  up  into  the  chambers  under  that 
pretence. 

It  came  upon  me  to  go  out  to  them;  and  as  I  was 
going  by  some  of  them  I  spoke  to  them;  whereupon 
they  asked  me  my  name.  I  readily  told  them  my 
name;  and  then  they  laid  hold  on  me,  saying  that  I 
was  the  man  they  looked  for,  and  led  me  away  to 
Ulverstone. 

They  kept  me  all  night  at  the  constable's  house, 
and  set  a  guard  of  fifteen  or  sixteen  men  to  watch  me ; 
some  of  whom  sat  in  the  chimney,  for  fear  I  should 
go  up  it;  such  dark  imaginations  possessed  them. 
They  were  very  rude  and  uncivil,  and  would  neither 
suffer  me  to  speak  to  Friends,  nor  sufFer  them  to 
bring  me  necessaries;  but  with  violence  thrust  them 
out,  and  kept  a  strong  guard  upon  me.  Very  wicked 
and  rude  they  were,  and  a  great  noise  they  made 
about  me.  One  of  the  constables,  whose  name  was 
Ashburnham,  said  he  did  not  think  a  thousand  men 
could  have  taken  me.  Another  of  the  constables, 
whose  name  was  Mount,  a  very  wicked  man,  said  he 
would  have  served  Judge  Fell  himself  so,  if  he  had 
been  alive,  and  he  had  had  a  warrant  for  him. 

Next  morning,  about  six,  I  was  putting  on  my 


In  the  First  Year  of  King  Charles.  343 


boots  and  spurs  to  go  witli  them  before  some  justice; 
but  they  pulled  off  my  spurs,  took  my  knife  out  of 
my  pocket,  and  hurried  me  away  through  the  town, 
with  a  party  of  horse  and  abundance  of  people,  not 
suffering  me  to  stay  till  my  own  horse  came  down. 

When  I  was  gone  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  with 
them,  some  Friends,  with  Margaret  Fell  and  her  chil- 
dren, came  towards  me;  and  then  a  great  party  of 
horse  gathered  about  me  in  a  mad  rage  and  fury,  cry- 
ing out,  "  Will  they  rescue  him  ?  Will  they  rescue 
him  ?  "  Thereupon  I  said  unto  them,  "  Here  is  my 
hair;  here  is  my  back;  here  are  my  cheeks;  strike 
on !  "  With  these  words  their  heat  was  a  little 
assuaged. 

Then  they  brought  a  little  horse,  and  two  of  them 
took  up  one  of  my  legs  and  put  my  foot  in  the  stir- 
rup, and  two  or  three  lifting  over  my  other  leg,  set  me 
upon  it  behind  the  saddle,  and  so  led  the  horse  by  the 
halter;  but  I  had  nothing  to  hold  by.  When  they 
were  come  some  distance  out  of  the  town  they  beat 
the  little  horse,  and  made  him  kick  and  gallop. 
Thereupon  I  slipped  off  him.  I  told  them  they  should 
not  abuse  the  creature.  They  were  much  enraged  at 
my  getting  off,  and  took  me  by  the  legs  and  feet,  and 
set  me  upon  the  same  horse,  behind  the  saddle  again; 
and  so  led  it  about  two  miles  till  they  came  to  a  great 
water  called  the  Carter-Ford. 

By  this  time  my  own  horse  was  come  to  us,  and  the 
water  being  deep,  and  their  little  horse  scarcely  able 
to  carry  me  through,  they  let  me  get  upon  my  own, 
through  the  persuasion  of  some  of  their  own  com- 
pany, leading  him  through  the  water.    One  wicked 


34:4:         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


fellow  kneeled  down,  and,  lifting  up  his  hands, 
blessed  God  that  I  was  taken. 

When  I  was  come  over  the  Sands,  I  told  them  that 
I  heard  I  had  liberty  to  choose  what  justice  I  would 
go  before;  but  Mount  and  the  other  constables  cried, 
"  No,  you  shall  not."  Then  they  led  me  to  Lancas- 
ter, about  fourteen  miles,  and  a  great  triumph  they 
thought  to  have  had;  but  as  they  led  me  I  was  moved 
to  sing  praises  to  the  Lord,  in  His  power  triumphing 
over  all. 

When  I  was  come  to  Lancaster,  the  spirits  of  the 
people  being  mightily  up,  I  stood  and  looked  earn- 
estly upon  them,  and  they  cried,  "  Look  at  his 
eyes !  "  ®  After  a  while  I  spoke  to  them,  and  they 
were  pretty  sober.  Then  came  a  young  man  who  took 
me  to  his  house,  and  after  a  little  time  the  officers 
took  me  to  the  house  of  Major  Porter,  the  justice 
who  had  sent  the  warrant  against  me,  and  who  had 
several  others  with  him. 

When  I  came  in,  I  said,  "  Peace  be  amongst  you." 
Porter  asked  me  why  I  came  into  the  coimtry  at  that 
troublesome  time.^  I  told  him,  "  To  visit  my  breth- 
ren." "  But,"  said  he,  "  you  have  great  meetings  up 
and  down,"    I  told  him  that  though  we  had,  our 


^  This  is  the  second  time  the  striking  character  of 
his  eyes  has  been  commented  on. 

''  This  was  just  at  the  troublous  time  when  Charles 
II.  was  coming  to  the  throne,  and  the  kingdom  was 
being  reorganized.  Every  traveller  was  suspected,  and 
every  gathering  of  people  was  watched. 


In  the  First  Year  of  King  Charles.  345 

meetings  were  known  throughout  the  nation  to  be 
peaceable,  and  we  were  a  peaceable  people. 

He  said  that  we  saw  the  devil  in  people's  faces.  I 
told  him  that  if  I  saw  a  drunkard,  or  a  swearer,  or  a 
peevish  heady  man,  I  could  not  say  I  saw  the  Spirit 
of  God  in  him.  And  I  asked  him  if  he  could  see  the 
Spirit  of  God.  He  said  we  cried  against  their 
ministers.  I  told  him  that  while  we  were  as  Saul, 
sitting  under  the  priests,  and  running  up  and  down 
with  their  packets  of  letters,  we  were  never  called 
pestilent  fellows  nor  makers  of  sects;  but  when  we 
were  come  to  exercise  our  consciences  towards  God 
and  man,  we  were  called  pestilent  fellows,  as  Paul 
was. 

He  said  we  could  express  ourselves  well  enough, 
and  he  would  not  dispute  with  me;  but  he  would 
restrain  me.  I  desired  to  know  for  what,  and  by 
whose  order  he  had  sent  his  warrant  for  me;  and  I 
complained  to  him  of  the  abuse  of  the  constables  and 
other  officers  after  they  had  taken  me,  and  in  their 
bringing  me  thither.  He  would  not  take  notice  of 
that,  but  told  me  he  had  an  order,  but  would  not  let 
me  see  it;  for  he  would  not  reveal  the  King's  secrets; 
and  besides,  "  A  prisoner,"  he  said,  "  is  not  to  see  for 
what  he  is  committed."  I  told  him  that  was  not  rea- 
son ;  for  how,  then,  should  he  make  his  defence  ?  I 
said  I  ought  to  have  a  copy  of  it.  But  he  said  there 
was  a  judge  once  that  fined  one  for  letting  a  prisoner 
have  a  copy  of  his  mittimus;  "  and,"  said  he,  "  I  have 
an  old  clerk,  though  I  am  a  young  justice." 

Then  he  called  to  his  clerk,  saying,  "  Is  it  not 
ready  yet?  Bring  it  ";  meaning  the  mittimus.  But 


346         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

it  not  being  ready,  he  told  me  I  was  a  disturber  of 
the  nation.  I  told  him  I  had  been  a  blessing  to  the 
nation,  in  and  through  the  Lord's  power  and  Truth; 
and  that  the  Spirit  of  God  in  all  consciences  would 
answer  it.  Then  he  charged  me  as  an  enemy  to  the 
King,  that  I  endeavoured  to  raise  a  new  war,  and 
imbrue  the  nation  in  blood  again.  I  told  him  I  had 
never  learned  the  postures  of  war,  but  was  clear  and 
innocent  as  a  child  concerning  those  things;  and 
therefore  was  bold. 

Then  came  the  clerk  with  the  mittimus,  and  the 
jailer  was  sent  for  and  commanded  to  take  me,  put 
me  into  the  Dark-house,  and  let  none  come  at  me, 
but  to  keep  me  there  close  prisoner  till  I  should  be 
delivered  by  the  King  or  Parliament.  Then  the  jus- 
tice asked  the  constables  where  my  horse  was. 
"  For  I  hear,"  said  he,  "  he  hath  a  good  horse;  have 
ye  brought  his  horse  ?  "  I  told  him  where  my  horse 
was,  but  he  did  not  meddle  with  him. 

As  they  had  me  to  the  jail  the  constable  gave  me 
my  knife  again,  and  then  asked  me  to  give  it  to  him. 
I  told  him,  ISTay;  he  had  not  been  so  civil  to  me.  So 
they  put  me  into  the  jail,  and  the  under-jailer,  one 
Hardy,  a  very  wicked  man,  was  exceeding  rude  and 
cruel,  and  many  times  would  not  let  me  have  meat 
brought  in  but  as  I  could  get  it  under  the  door. 
Many  came  to  look  at  me,  some  in  a  rage,  and  very 
uncivil  and  rude. 

Being  now  a  close  prisoner  in  the  common  jail  at 
Lancaster,  I  desired  Thomas  Cummins  and  Thomas 
Green  to  go  to  the  jailer,  and  desire  of  him  a  copy 
of  my  mittimus,  that  I  might  know  what  I  stood  com- 


In  the  First  Year  of  King  Charles.  347 

mitted  for.  They  went  and  the  jailer  answered  that 
he  could  not  give  a  copy  of  it,  for  another  had 
been  fined  for  so  doing;  but  he  gave  them  liberty  to 
read  it  over.  To  the  best  of  their  remembrance  the 
matters  therein  charged  against  me  were  that  I  was 
a  person  generally  suspected  to  be  a  common  dis- 
turber of  the  peace  of  the  nation,  an  enemy  to  the 
King,  and  a  chief  upholder  of  the  Quakers'  sect;  and 
that,  together  with  others  of  my  fanatic  opinion,  I 
had  of  late  endeavoured  to  raise  insurrections  in  these 
parts  of  the  country,  and  to  embroil  the  whole  king- 
dom in  blood.  Wherefore  the  jailer  was  commanded 
to  keep  me  in  safe  custody  until  I  should  be  released 
by  order  of  the  King  and  Parliament. 

When  I  had  thus  got  the  heads  of  the  charge  con- 
tained in  the  mittimus,  I  wrote  a  plain  answer  in  vin- 
dication of  my  innocency  in  each  particular;  as  fol- 
lows: 

"  I  am  a  prisoner  at  Lancaster,  committed  by  Jus- 
tice Porter.  A  copy  of  the  mittimus  I  cannot  get, 
but  such  expressions  I  am  told  are  in  it  as  are  very 
untrue;  as  that  I  am  generally  suspected  to  be  a  com- 
mon disturber  of  the  nation's  peace,  an  enemy  to  the 
King,  and  that  I,  with  others,  endeavour  to  raise  in- 
surrections to  embroil  the  nation  in  blood;  all  of 
which  is  utterly  false,  and  I  do,  in  every  part  thereof, 
deny  it. 

"  For  I  am  not  a  person  generally  suspected  to  be 
a  disturber  of  the  nation's  peace,  nor  have  I  given 
any  cause  for  such  suspicion ;  for  through  the  nation 
I  have  been  tried  for  these  things  formerly.    In  the 


348         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

days  of  Oliver  I  was  taken  up  on  pretence  of  raising 
arms  against  him,  which  was  also  false;  for  I  med- 
dled not  with  raising  arms  at  all.  Yet  I  was 
then  carried  up  a  prisoner  to  London,  and  brought 
before  him;  when  I  cleared  myself,  and  denied  the 
drawing  of  a  carnal  weapon  against  him,  or  any  man 
upon  the  earth;  for  my  weapons  are  spiritual,  which 
take  away  the  occasion  of  war,  and  lead  into  peace. 
Upon  my  declaring  this  to  Oliver,  I  was  set  at  lib- 
erty by  him. 

"  After  this  I  was  taken  and  sent  to  prison  by  Ma- 
jor Ceely  in  Cornwall,  who,  when  I  was  brought  be- 
fore the  judge,  informed  against  me  that  I  took  him 
aside,  and  told  him  that  I  could  raise  forty  thousand 
men  in  an  hour's  time,  to  involve  the  nation  in  blood, 
and  bring  in  King  Charles.  This  also  was  utterly 
false,  and  a  lie  of  his  own  inventing,  as  was  then 
proved  upon  him  for  I  never  spoke  any  such  word 
to  him. 

"  I  never  was  f oimd  in  any  plot ;  I  never  took  any 
engagement  or  oath ;  nor  have  I  ever  learned  war-pos- 
tures. As  those  were  false  charges  against  me  then, 
so  are  these  now  which  come  from  Major  Porter,  who 
is  lately  appointed  to  be  justice,  but  formerly  wanted 
power  to  exercise  his  cruelty  against  us;  which  is  but 
the  wickedness  of  the  old  enemy.  The  peace  of  the 
nation  I  am  not  a  disturber  of,  nor  ever  was;  but  I 
seek  the  peace  of  it,  and  of  all  men,  and  stand  for  all 
nations'  peace,  and  all  men's  peace  upon  the  earth, 
and  wish  all  knew  my  innocency  in  these  things. 

"  And  whereas  Major  Porter  saith  I  am  an  enemy 
to  the  King,  this  is  false;  for  my  love  is  to  him  and 


In  the  First  Year  of  King  Charles.  349 


to  all  men,  even  though  they  be  enemies  to  God,  to 
themselves,  and  to  me.  And  I  can  say  it  is  of  the 
Lord  that  the  King  is  come  in,  to  bring  down  many 
unrighteously  set  up;  of  which  I  had  a  sight  three 
years  before  he  came  in.  It  is  much  Major  Porter 
should  say  I  am  an  enemy  to  the  King;  for  I  have  no 
reason  so  to  be,  he  having  done  nothing  against  me. 

"  But  I  have  been  often  imprisoned  and  perse- 
cuted these  eleven  or  twelve  years  by  those  that  have 
been  both  against  the  King  and  his  father,  even  the 
party  by  whom  Porter  was  made  a  major  and  for 
whom  he  bore  arms;  but  not  by  them  that  were  for 
the  King.  I  was  never  an  enemy  to  the  "King,  nor  to 
any  man's  person  upon  the  earth.  I  am  in  the  love 
that  fulfils  the  law,  which  thinks  no  evil,  but  loves 
even  enemies;  and  would  have  the  King  saved,  and 
come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  Truth,  and  be  brought 
into  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  to  receive  His  wisdom  from 
above,  by  which  all  things  were  made  and  created; 
that  with  that  wisdom  he  niay  order  all  things  to  the 
glory  of  God. 

"  Whereas  he  calleth  me  '  A  chief  upholder  of  the 
Quakers'  sect,'  I  answer:  The  Quakers  are  not  a 
sect,"  but  are  in  the  power  of  God,  which  was  before 


*  George  Fox  never  admitted  that  the  Quakers  were  a 
sect,  nor  did  any  Friend  of  the  first  fifty  years.  There 
was  but  one  Church,  composed  of  those  who  obeyed  the 
Light  and  in  whom  Christ  dwelt,  and  of  this  Church 
Fox  and  his  followers  claimed  to  be  members.  This 
position  has  been  ably  put  in  Thomas  Hancock's 
"  Peeulium  " — a  Prize  Essay. 


350         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

sects  were,  and  witness  the  election  before  the  world 
began,  and  are  come  to  live  in  the  life  in  which  the 
prophets  and  apostles  lived,  who  gave  forth  the  Scrip- 
tures; therefore  are  we  hated  by  envious,  wrathful, 
wicked,  persecuting  men.  But  God  is  the  upholder 
of  us  all  by  His  mighty  power,  and  preserves  us  from 
the  wrath  of  the  wicked  that  would  swallow  us  up. 

"  And  whereas  he  saith  that  I,  together  with 
others  of  my  fanatic  opinion,  as  he  calls  it,  have  of 
late  endeavoured  to  raise  insurrections,  and  to  em- 
broil the  whole  kingdom  in  blood,  I  answer,  This  is 
altogether  false.  To  these  things  I  am  as  a  child; 
I  know  nothing  of  them.  The  postures  of  war  I 
never  learned;  my  weapons  are  spiritual  and 
not  carnal,  for  with  carnal  weapons  I  do  not  fight. 
I  am  a  follower  of  Him  who  said,  '  My  kingdom  is  not 
of  this  world,'  and  though  these  lies  and  slanders  are 
raised  upon  me,  I  deny  drawing  any  carnal  weapon 
against  the  King  or  Parliament,  or  any  man  upon  the 
earth.  For  I  am  come  to  the  end  of  the  Law,  but 
am  in  that  which  saves  men's  lives.  A  witness  I  am 
against  all  murderers,  plotters,  and  all  such  as  would 
imbrue  the  nation  in  blood ;  for  it  is  not  in  my  heart 
to  have  any  man's  life  destroyed. 

"  And  as  for  the  word  fanatic,  which  signifies  furi- 
ous, foolish,  mad,  etc.,  he  might  have  considered 
himself  before  he  had  used  that  word,  and  have 
learned  the  humility  which  goes  before  honour.  We 
are  not  furious,  foolish,  or  mad;  but  through  pa- 
tience and  meekness  have  borne  lies,  slanders  and 
persecutions  many  years,  and  have  undergone  great 
sufferings.   The  spiritual  man,  that  wrestles  not  with 


In  the  First  Year  of  King  Charles.  351 


flesh  and  blood,  and  the  Spirit  that  reproves  sin  in  the 
gate,  which  is  the  Spirit  of  Truth,  wisdom,  and  sound 
judgment,  is  not  mad,  foolish,  furious,  which,  fanatic 
signifies;  but  all  are  of  a  mad,  furious,  foolish  spirit 
that  in  their  furiousness,  foolishness  and  rage  wrestle 
with  flesh  and  blood,  with  carnal  weapons.  This  is 
not  the  Spirit  of  God,  but  of  error,  that  persecutes 
in  a  mad,  blind  zeal,  like  Nebuchadnezzar  and  Saul. 

"  Inasmuch  as  I  am  ordered  to  be  kept  prisoner 
till  I  be  delivered  bv  order  from  the  King  or  Parlia- 
ment, therefore  I  have  written  these  things  to  be  laid 
before  you,  the  King  and  Parliament,  that  ye  may 
consider  of  them  before  ye  act  anything  therein; 
that  ye  may  weigh,  in  the  wisdom  of  God,  the  intent 
and  end  of  men's  spirits,  lest  ye  act  the  thing  that 
will  bring  the  hand  of  the  Lord  upon  you  and  against 
you,  as  many  who  have  been  in  authority  have  done 
before  you,  whom  God  hath  overthrown.  In  Him  we 
trust  whom  we  fear  and  cry  unto  day  and  night,  who 
hath  heard  us,  doth  hear  us,  and  will  hear  us,  and 
avenge  our  cause.  Much  innocent  blood  hath  been 
shed.  Many  have  been  persecuted  to  death  by  such 
as  were  in  authority  before  you,  whom  God  hath 
vomited  out  because  they  turned  against  the  just. 
Therefore  consider  your  standing  now  that  ye  have 
the  day,  and  receive  this  as  a  warning  of  love  to  you. 

"  From  an  innocent  sufferer  in  bonds,  and  close 
prisoner  in  Lancaster  Castle,  called 

"  George  Fox." 

After  this  Margaret  Fell  determined  to  go  to  Lon- 
don, to  speak  with  the  King  about  my  being  taken, 


352         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

and  to  show  him  the  manner  of  it,  and  the  unjust 
dealing  and  evil  usage  I  had  received.''  When  Jusr 
tice  Porter  heard  of  this,  he  vapoured  that  he  would 
go  and  meet  her  in  the  gap.  But  when  he  came  be- 
fore the  King,  having  been  a  zealous  man  for  the 
Parliament  against  the  King,  several  of  the  courtiers 
spoke  to  him  concerning  his  plundering  their  houses; 
so  that  he  quickly  had  enough  of  the  court,  and  soon 
returned  into  the  country. 

Meanwhile  the  jailer  seemed  very  fearful,  and  said 
he  was  afraid  Major  Porter  would  hang  him  because 
he  had  not  put  me  in  the  dark-house.  But  when  the 
jailer  waited  on  him  after  his  return  from  London, 
he  was  very  blank  and  dovm,  and  asked  how  I  did, 
pretending  he  would  find  a  way  to  set  me  at  liberty. 
But  having  overshot  himself  in  his  mittimus  by  or- 
dering me  "  to  be  kept  a  prisoner  till  I  should  be 
delivered  by  the  King  or  Parliament,"  he  had  put 
it  out  of  his  power  to  release  me  if  he  would. 

He  was  the  more  down  also  upon  reading  a  letter 
which  I  sent  him;  for  when  he  was  in  the  height  of 
his  rage  and  threats  against  me,  and  thought  to  in- 
gratiate himself  into  the  King's  favour  by  impris- 
oning me,  I  was  moved  to  write  to  him  and  put  him 
in  mind  how  fierce  he  had  been  against  the  King  and 


®  Margaret  Fell  was  now  the  head  of  Swarthmore 
Hall,  Judge  Fell  having  died  in  1658.  As  the  arrest 
was  made  from  her  house  she  felt  herself  implicated  in 
the  false  charge.  She  wrote  a  vigorous  letter  about  the 
case  to  the  proper  magistrates. 


In  the  First  Year  of  King  Charles.  353 

his  party,  though  now  he  would  be  thought  zealous 
for  the  King. 

Among  other  things  in  my  letter  I  called  to  his 
remembrance  that  when  he  held  Lancaster  Castle  for 
the  Parliament  against  the  King,  he  was  so  rough 
and  fierce  against  those  that  favoured  the  King  that 
he  said  he  would  leave  them  neither  dog  nor  cat,  if 
they  did  not  bring  him  provision  to  the  Castle. 
I  asked  him  also  whose  great  buck's  horns 
were  those  that  were  in  his  house;  and  whence 
he  had  both  them  and  the  wainscot  with  which  he 
ceiled  his  house;  had  he  them  not  from  Hornby 
Castle  ? 

About  this  time  Ann  Curtis,  of  Reading,  came  to 
see  me ;  and  understanding  how  I  stood  committed,  it 
was  upon  her  also  to  go  to  the  Iving  about  it.  Her 
father,  who  had  been  sheriff  of  Bristol,  was  hanged 
near  his  own  door  for  endeavouring  to  bring  the 
King  in;  upon  which  consideration  she  had  some 
hopes  the  King  might  hear  her  on  my  behalf.  Ac- 
cordingly, when  she  returned  to  London,  she  and 
Margaret  Fell  went  to  the  King  together;  who,  when 
he  understood  whose  daughter  she  was,  received  her 
kindly.  Her  request  to  him  being  to  send  for  me  up, 
and  hear  the  cause  himself,  he  promised  her  he 
would;  and  he  commanded  his  secretary  to  send  an 
order  for  bringing  me  up. 

But  when  they  came  to  the  secretary  for  the  order 
he  said  it  was  not  in  his  power;  he  must  go  according 
to  law;  and  I  must  be  brought  up  by  a  writ  of  habeas 
corpus  before  the  judges.  So  he  wrote  to  the  Judge 
of  the  King's  Bench,  signifying  that  it  was  the  King's 


354         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

pleasure  I  should  be  sent  up  by  a  writ  of  habeas 
corpus.  Accordingly  a  writ  was  sent  and  delivered 
to  the  sheriff;  but  because  it  was  directed  to  the 
chancellor  of  Lancaster  the  sheriff  put  it  off  to  him; 
on  the  other  hand,  the  chancellor  would  not  make  the 
warrant  upon  it,  but  said  the  sheriff  must  do  that. 

At  length  both  chancellor  and  sheriff  were  got  to- 
gether; but  being  both  enemies  to  Truth,  they  sought 
occasion  for  delay,  and  found  an  error  in  the  writ, 
which  was  that,  being  directed  to  the  chancellor,  it 
said,  "  George  Fox  in  prison  under  your  custody," 
whereas  the  prison  I  was  in  was  not  in  the  chancel- 
lor's custody,  but  the  sheriff's;  so  the  word  your 
should  have  been  Ms.  Upon  this  they  returned  the 
writ  to  London  again,  only  to  have  that  one  word  al- 
tered. 

When  it  was  altered  and  brought  down  again,  the 
sheriff  refused  to  carry  me  up  unless  I  would  seal  a 
writing  to  him  and  become  boimd  to  pay  for  the  seal- 
ing and  the  charge  of  carrying  me  up:  which  I  de- 
nied, telling  them  I  would  not  seal  anything. 

I  was  moved  also  to  write  to  the  King  to  exhort 
him  to  exercise  mercy  and  forgiveness  towards  his 
enemies  and  to  warn  him  to  restrain  the  profaneness 
and  looseness  that  was  risen  up  in  the  nation  upon  his 
return. 

"  to  the  king. 

"  King  Charles  : 

"  Thou  camest  not  into  this  nation  by  sword,  nor 
by  victory  of  war,  but  by  the  power  of  the  Lord. 
Now,  if  thou  dost  not  live  in  this  power,  thou  wilt 
not  prosper. 


In  the  First  Year  of  King  Charles.  355 

"  If  the  Lord  hath  showed  thee  mercy  and  forgiven 
thee,  and  thou  dost  not  show  mercy  and  forgive,  God 
will  not  hear  thy  prayers,  nor  them  that  pray  for 
thee.  If  thou  dost  not  stop  persecution  and  perse- 
cutors, and  take  away  all  laws  that  hold  up  persecu- 
tion about  religion;  if  thou  persist  in  them,  and  up- 
hold persecution,  that  will  make  thee  as  blind  as  those 
that  have  gone  before  thee:  for  persecution  hath  al- 
ways blinded  those  that  have  gone  into  it.  Such  God 
by  his  power  overthrows,  doeth  His  valiant  acts 
upon,  and  bringeth  salvation  to  His  oppressed  ones. 

"  If  thou  bear  the  sword  in  vain,  and  let  drunken- 
ness, oaths,  plays.  May-games,  as  setting  up  of  May- 
poles, with  the  image  of  the  crown  atop  of  them,  with 
such  like  abominations  and  vanities,  be  encouraged  or 
go  unpunished,  the  nation  will  quickly  turn  like 
Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  and  be  as  bad  as  those  men  of 
the  old  world,  who  grieved  the  Lord  till  He  over- 
threw them.  So  He  will  overthrow  you  if  these 
things  be  not  suppressed. 

"  Hardly  ever  before  has  there  been  so  much  wick- 
edness at  liberty  as  there  is  at  this  day,  as  though, 
there  were  no  terror  nor  sword  of  magistracy.  Such 
looseness  doth  not  grace  a  government,  nor  please 
them  that  do  well.  Our  prayers  are  for  them  that 
are  in  authority,  that  imder  them  we  may  live  a 
godly  life  in  peace,  and  that  we  may  not  be  brought 
into  ungodliness  by  them.  Hear  and  consider,  and 
do  good  in  thy  time,  whilst  thou  hast  power;  be  mer- 
ciful and  forgive;  that  is  the  way  to  overcome  and 
obtain  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  G.  F." 


356         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

It  was  long  before  the  sheriff  would  yield  to  re- 
move me  to  London  unless  I  would  seal  a  bond  to 
him,  and  bear  the  charges;  which  I  still  refused  to 
do.  Then  they  consulted  how  to  convey  me  up,  and 
first  concluded  to  send  up  a  party  of  horse  with  me.  I 
told  them,  "  If  I  were  such  a  man  as  you  have  repre- 
sented me  to  be,  you  would  have  need  to  send  a  troop 
or  two  of  horse  to  guard  me." 

When  they  considered  what  a  charge  it  would 
be  to  them  to  send  up  a  party  of  horse  with  me,  they 
altered  their  purpose,  and  concluded  to  send  me  up 
guarded  only  by  the  jailer  and  some  bailiffs.  But 
upon  farther  consideration  they  found  that  this 
also  would  be  a  great  charge  to  them,  and  therefore 
they  sent  for  me  to  the  jailer's  house,  and  told  me 
that  if  I  would  put  in  bail  that  I  would  be  in  London 
on  such  a  day  of  the  term,  I  should  have  leave  to 
go  up  with  some  of  my  own  friends. 

I  told  them  I  would  neither  put  in  bail,  nor  give 
one  piece  of  silver  to  the  jailer;  for  I  was  an  inno- 
cent man, — ^that  they  had  imprisoned  me  wrongfully, 
and  laid  a  false  charge  upon  me.  ISTevertheless,  I 
said,  if  they  would  let  me  go  up  with  one  or  two  of 
my  friends  to  bear  me  company,  I  might  go  up  and 
be  in  London  on  such  a  day,  if  the  Lord  should  per- 
mit; and  if  they  desired  it,  I  or  any  of  my  friends 
that  went  with  me  would  carry  up  their  charge 
against  myself. 

When  they  saw  they  could  do  no  otherwise  with 
me,  the  sheriff  consented  that  I  should  come  up  with 
some  of  my  friends,  without  any  other  engagement 


In  the  First  Year  of  King  Charles.  357 


than  my  word,  to  appear  before  the  judges  at  London 
such  a  day  of  the  term,  if  the  Lord  should  permit. 

Thereupon  I  was  let  out  of  prison,  and  went  to 
Swarthmore,  where  I  stayed  two  or  three  days;  and 
thence  went  to  Lancaster,  and  so  to  Preston,  having 
meetings  amongst  Friends  till  I  came  into  Cheshire, 
to  William  Gaudy's,  where  was  a  large  meeting  with- 
out doors,  the  house  not  being  sufficient  to  contain 
it.  That  day  the  Lord's  everlasting  Seed,  which  is 
the  heir  of  the  promise,  was  set  over  all,  and  Friends 
were  turned  to  it. 

Thence  I  came  into  Staffordshire  and  Warwick- 
shire, to  Anthony  Bickliff's,  and  at  Nuneaton,*  at  a 
priest's  widow's  house,  we  had  a  blessed  meeting, 
wherein  the  everlasting  Word  of  life  was  powerfully 
declared,  and  many  were  settled  in  it.  Then,  trav- 
elling on,  visiting  Friends'  meetings,  in  about  three 
weeks'  time  from  my  coming  out  of  prison  I  reached 
London,  Eichard  Hubberthorn  and  Eobert  Withers 
being  with  me. 

When  we  came  to  Charing-Cross,  multitudes  of 
people  were  gathered  together  to  see  the  burning  of 
the  bowels  of  some  of  the  old  Eng's  judges,  who  had 
been  hanged,  drawn  and  quartered. 

We  went  next  morning  to  Judge  Mallet's  chamber. 
He  was  putting  on  his  red  gown  to  sit  in  judgment 
upon  some  more  of  the  King's  judges.  He  was  then 
very  peevish  and  froward,  and  said  I  might  come  an- 
other time. 

We  went  again  to  his  chamber  when  there  was 

*  Nuneaton  was  only  two  miles  from  his  home  at  Drayton,  but  he 
seems  not  to  have  stopped  for  a  visit. 


358         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

with  him  Judge  Foster,  who  was  called  the  Lord 
Chief-Justice  of  England.  With  me  was  one  called 
Esquire  Marsh,  who  was  one  of  the  bedchamber  to 
the  King.  When  we  had  delivered  to  the  judges  the 
charge  that  was  against  me,  and  they  had  read  to 
those  words,  "  that  I  and  my  friends  were  embroil- 
ing the  nation  in  blood,"  etc.,  they  struck  their  hands 
on  the  table.  Whereupon  I  told  them  that  I  was  the 
man  whom  that  charge  was  against,  but  I  was  as  inno- 
cent of  any  such  thing  as  a  new-born  child,  and  had 
brought  it  up  myself;  and  some  of  my  friends  came 
up  with  me,  without  any  guard. 

As  yet  they  had  not  minded  my  hat,  but  now  see- 
ing it  on,  they  said,  "  What,  do  you  stand  with  your 
hat  on !  "  I  told  them  I  did  not  so  in  any  contempt 
of  them.  Then  they  commanded  it  to  be  taken  off; 
and  when  they  called  for  the  marshal  of  the  King's 
Bench,  they  said  to  him,  "  You  must  take  this  man 
and  secure  him ;  but  let  him  have  a  chamber,  and  not 
be  put  amongst  the  prisoners." 

"  My  lord,"  said  the  marshal,  "  I  have  no  chamber 
to  put  him  into;  my  house  is  so  full  I  cannot  tell 
where  to  provide  a. room  for  him  but  amongst  the 
prisoners." 

"  ISTay,"  said  the  judge,  "  you  must  not  put  him 
amongst  the  prisoners." 

But  when  the  marshal  still  answered  that  he  had 
no  other  place  wherein  to  put  me.  Judge  Foster  said 
to  me,  "  Will  you  appear  to-morrow  about  ten  o'clock 
at  the  King's  Bench  bar  in  Westminster-Hall  ?  " 

T  said,  "  Yes,  if  the  Lord  gives  me  strength." 

Then  said  Judge  Foster  to  the  other  judge,  "  If  he 


In  the  First  Year  of  King  Charles.  359 


says  Yes,  and  promises  it,  you  may  take  his  word;  " 
so  I  was  dismissed. 

Next  day  I  appeared  at  the  King's  Bench  bar  at 
the  hour  appointed,  Kobert  Widders,  Eichard  Hub- 
berthom,  and  Esquire  Marsh  going  with  me.  I  was 
brought  into  the  middle  of  the  court;  and  as  soon  as 
I  came  in,  was  moved  to  look  round,  and,  turning 
to  the  people,  say,  "  Peace  be  among  you."  The 
power  of  the  Lord  spread  over  the  court. 

The  charge  against  me  was  read  openly.  The  peo- 
ple were  moderate,  and  the  judges  cool  and  loving; 
and  the  Lord's  mercy  was  to  them.  But  when  they 
came  to  that  part  which  said  that  I  and  my  friends 
were  embroiling  the  nation  in  blood,  and  raising  a 
new  war,  and  that  I  was  an  enemy  to  the  King,  etc., 
they  lifted  up  their  hands. 

Then,  stretching  out  my  arms,  I  said,  "  I  am  the 
man  whom  that  charge  is  against;  but  I  am  as  inno- 
cent as  a  child  concerning  the  charge,  and  have  never 
learned  any  war-postures.  And,"  said  I,  "  do  ye 
think  that,  if  I  and  my  friends  had  been  such  men  as 
the  charge  declares,  I  would  have  brought  it  up  my- 
self against  myself  ?  Or  that  I  should  have  been  suf- 
fered to  come  up  with  only  one  or  two  of  my  friends 
with  me  ?  Had  I  been  such  a  man  as  this  charge  sets 
forth,  I  had  need  to  be  guarded  with  a  troop  or  two 
of  horse.  But  the  sheriff  and  magistrates  of  Lan- 
cashire thought  fit  to  let  me  and  my  friends  come  up 
with  it  ourselves,  nearly  two  hundred  miles,  without 
any  guard  at  all ;  which,  ye  may  be  sure,  they  would 
not  have  done,  bad  they  looked  upon  me  to  be  such  a 
man." 


360         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

Then  the  Judge  asked  me  whether  it  should  be 
filed,  or  what  I  would  do  with  it.  I  answered,  "  Ye 
are  judges,  and  able,  I  hope,  to  judge  in  this  matter; 
therefore,  do  with  it  what  ye  will;  for  I  am  the  man 
these  charges  are  against,  and  here  ye  see  I  have 
brought  them  up  myself.  Do  ye  what  ye  will  with 
them;  I  leave  it  to  you." 

Then,  Judge  Twisden  beginning  to  speak  some 
angry  words,  I  appealed  to  Judge  Foster  and  Judge 
Mallet,  who  had  heard  me  over-night.  Thereupon 
they  said  they  did  not  accuse  me,  for  they  had  noth- 
ing against  me.  Then  stood  up  Esquire  Marsh,  who 
was  of  the  King's  bedchamber,  and  told  the  judges 
it  was  the  King's  pleasure  that  I  should  be  set  at  lib- 
erty, seeing  no  accuser  came  up  against  me.  They 
asked  me  whether  I  would  put  it  to  the  King  and 
Council.   I  said,  "  Yes,  with  a  good  will." 

Thereupon  they  sent  the  sheriff's  return,  which 
he  had  made  to  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  containing 
the  matter  charged  against  me  in  the  mittimus,  to  the 
King,  that  he  might  see  for  what  I  was  committed. 
The  return  of  the  sheriff  of  Lancaster  was  as  follows: 

"  By  virtue  of  His  Majesty's  writ,  to  me  directed, 
and  hereunto  annexed,  I  certify  that  before  the  re- 
ceipt of  the  said  writ  George  Fox,  in  the  said  writ 
mentioned,  was  committed  to  His  Majesty's  jail  at 
the  Castle  of  Lancaster,  in  my  custody,  by  a  warrant 
from  Henry  Porter,  Esq.,  one  of  His  Majesty's  jus- 
tices of  peace  within  the  county  palatine  aforesaid, 
bearing  date  the  fifth  of  June  now  last  past;  for  that 
he,  the  said  George  Fox,  was  generally  suspected  to 
be  a  common  disturber  of  the  peace  of  this  nation,  an 


In  the  First  Year  of  King  Charles.  361 

enemy  of  our  sovereign  lord  the  King,  and  a  chief 
upholder  of  the  Quakers'  sect;  and  that  he,  together 
with  others  of  his  fanatic  opinion,  have  of  late  en- 
deavoured to  make  insurrections  in  these  parts  of  the 
country,  and  to  embroil  the  whole  kingdom  in  blood. 
And  this  is  the  cause  of  his  taking  and  detaining. 
Nevertheless,  the  body  of  the  said  George  Fox  I  have 
ready  before  Thomas  Mallet,  knight,  one  of  His 
Majesty's  justices,  assigned  to  hold  pleas  before  His 
Majesty,  at  his  chamber  in  Sergeants'  Inn,  in  Fleet 
Street,  to  do  and  receive  those  things  which  his  Maj- 
esty's said  justice  shall  determine  concerning  him  in 
this  behalf,  as  by  the  aforesaid  writ  is  required. 

"  George  Chetham,  Esq.,  SherifF." 

On  perusal  of  this,  and  consideration  of  the  whole 
matter,  the  King,  being  satisfied  of  my  innocency, 
commanded  his  secretary  to  send  an  order  to  Judge 
Mallet  for  my  release,  which  he  did  thus: 

"  It  is  his  Majesty's  pleasiire  that  you  give  order 
for  releasing,  and  setting  at  iuW  liberty  the  person 
of  George  Fox,  late  a  prisoner  in  Lancaster  Jail,  and 
commanded  hither  by  an  habeas  corpus.  And  this 
signification  of  his  Majesty's  pleasure  shall  be  your 
sufficient  warrant.  Dated  at  Whitehall,  the  24th  of 
October,  1660.  Edward  Nicholas." 

"  For  Sir  Thomas  Mallet,  knight,  one 
of  the  justices  of  the  King's  Bench." 

When  this  order  was  delivered  to  Judge  Mallet, 
he  forthwith  sent  his  warrant  to  the  marshal  of  the 
King's  Bench  for  my  release ;  which  warrant  was  thus 
worded : 


362 


George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


"  By  virtue  of  a  warrant  which  tliis  morning  I 
have  received  from  the  Right  Honorable  Sir  Edward 
Nicholas,  knight,  one  of  his  Majesty's  principal  sec- 
retaries, for  the  releasing  and  setting  at  liberty  of 
George  Fox,  late  a  prisoner  in  Lancaster  jail,  and 
thence  brought  hither  by  habeas  corpus,  and  yester- 
day committed  unto  your  custody;  I  do  hereby  re- 
quire you  accordingly  to  release  and  set  the  said  pris- 
oner George  Fox  at  liberty:  for  which  this  shall  be 
your  warrant  and  discharge.  Given  under  my  hand 
the  25th  day  of  October,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  God 
1660.  'Thosias  Mallet." 

"  To  Sir  John  Lenthal,  knight, 
marshal  of  the  King's  Bench, 
or  his  deputy." 

Thus,  after  I  had  been  a  prisoner  somewhat  more 
than  twenty  weeks,  I  was  freely  set  at  liberty  by  the 
King's  command,  the  Lord's  power  having  wonder- 
fully wrought  for  the  clearing  of  my  innocency,  and 
Porter,  who  committed  me,  not  daring  to  appear  to 
make  good  the  charge  he  had  falsely  suggested 
against  me.  But,  after  it  was  known  I  was  dis- 
charged, a  company  of  envious,  wacked  spirits  were 
troubled,  and  terror  took  hold  of  Justice  Porter;  for 
he  was  afraid  I  would  take  the  advantage  of  the  law 
against  him  for  my  wrong  imprisonment,  and  thereby 
undo  him,  his  wife  and  children.  And  indeed  I  was 
pressed  by  some  in  authority  to  make  him  and  the 
rest  examples;  but  I  said  I  should  leave  them  to  the 
Lord ;  if  the  Lord  forgave  them  I  should  not  troiable 
myself  with  them.. 


CHAPTEE  XIV. 
ILaiJors,  ©angers,  anti  Sufferings. 

1661-1662. 

/ 

JTow  did  I  see  the  end  of  the  travail  which  I  had 
in  my  sore  exercise  at  Reading;^  for  the  everlasting 
power  of  the  Lord  was  over  all,  and  His  blessed  Truth, 
life,  and  light  shined  over  the  nation.  Great  and 
glorious  meetings  we  had,  and  very  quiet ;  and  many 
flocked  unto  the  Truth.  Richard  Hubberthorn  had 
been  with  the  King,  who  said  that  none  should  molest 
us  so  long  as  we  Kved  peaceably,  and  promised  this 
upon  the  word  of  a  king;  telling  Richard  that  we 
might  make  use  of  his  promise.^ 

Some  Friends  were  also  admitted  in  the  House  of 
Lords,  to  declare  their  reasons  why  they  could  not 
pay  tithes,  swear,  go  to  the  steeple-house  worship,  or 
join  with  others  in  worship;  and  the  Lords  heard 
them  moderately.   There  being  about  seven  hundred 


*  In  1658  Fox  had  written:  "  I  went  to  Heading, 
where  I  was  under  great  exercises  and  sufferings,  and  in 
great  travail  of  spirit  for  al)out  ten  weeks."  This  was 
apparently  over  the  disturbed  political  situation,  and 
he  tells  us  that  at  this  time  he  "  had  a  sight  and  sense 
of  the  king's  return." 

^  Poor  George  little  realized  how  futile  this  promise 
was  to  prove,  or  how  soon  the  whips  of  Oliver  were  to 
become  scorpions  under  the  new  order  of  affairs. 


364         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


Friends  in  prison,  who  had  been  committed  under 
Oliver's  and  Richard's  government,  upon  contempts 
(so  called)  when  the  King  came  in,  he  set  them  all  at 
liberty. 

There  seemed  at  that  time  an  inclination  and  in- 
tention in  the  government  to  grant  Friends  liberty, 
because  those  in  authority  were  sensible  that  we  had 
suffered  as  well  as  they  under  the  former  powers. 
But  still,  when  anything  was  going  forward  in  order 
thereto,  some  dirty  spirits  or  other,^  that  would  seem 
to  be  for  us,  threw  something  in  the  way  to  stop  it. 
It  was  said  there  was  an  instrument  drawn  iip  for 
confirming  our  liberty,  and  that  it  only  wanted  sign- 
ing; when  suddenly  that  wicked  attempt  of  the  Fifth- 
monarchy  people  broke  out,  and  put  the  city  and  na- 
tion in  an  uproar.  This  was  on  a  First-day  night, 
and  very  glorious  meetings  we  had  had  that  day, 
wherein  the  Lord's  Truth  shone  over  all,  and  His 
power  was  exalted  above  all;  but  about  midnight,  or 
soon  after,  the  drums  beat,  and  the  cry  was,  "  Arm, 
Arm !  " 

I  got  up  out  of  bed,  and  in  the  morning  took  boat, 
and,  landing  at  Whitehall-stairs,  walked  through 
Whitehall.  The  people  there  looked  strangely  at  me, 
but  I  passed  through  them,  and  went  to  Pail-Mall, 
where  divers  Friends  came  to  me,  though  it  had  now 
become  dangerous  to  pass  through  the  streets;  for  by 
this  time  the  city  and  suburbs  were  up  in  arms.  Ex- 
ceedingly rude  the  people  and  soldiers  were.  Henry 


^  In  this  instance  Fifth-monarchy  men,  whose  insur- 
rection brought  on  the  new  persecution. 


Labors,  Dangers  and  Sufferings.  365 


Fell,  going  to  a  Friend's  house,  was  knocked  down  by 
the  soldiers,  and  he  would  have  been  killed  had  not 
the  Duke  of  York  come  by. 

Great  mischief  was  done  in  the  city  this  week;  and 
when  the  next  First-day  came,  as  Friends  went  to 
their  meetings,  many  were  taken  prisoners.  I  stayed 
at  Pall-Mall,  intending  to  be  at  the  meeting  there; 
but  on  Seventh-day  night  a  company  of  troopers 
came  and  knocked  at  the  door.  The  servant  let  them 
in.  They  rushed  into  the  house,  and  laid  hold  of  me ; 
and,  there  being  amongst  them  one  that  had  served 
imder  the  Parliament,  he  put  his  hand  to  my  pocket 
and  asked  whether  I  had  any  pistol.  I  told  him, 
"  You  know  I  do  not  carry  pistols;  why,  therefore, 
ask  such  a  question  of  me,  whom  you  know  to  be  a 
peaceable  man  ? " 

Others  of  the  soldiers  ran  into  the  chambers,  and 
there  found  in  bed  Esquire  Marsh,  who,  though  he 
was  one  of  the  King's  bedchamber,  out  of  his  love  to 
me  came  and  lodged  where  I  did.  When  they  came 
down  again  they  said,  "  Why  should  we  take  this  man 
away  with  us.    We  will  let  him  alone." 

"  Oh,"  said  the  Parliament  soldier,  "  he  is  one  of 
the  heads,  and  a  chief  ringleader." 

Upon  this  the  soldiers  were  taking  me  away,  but 
Esquire  Marsh,  hearing  of  it,  sent  for  him  that  com- 
manded the  party,  and  desired  him  to  let  me  alone, 
for  he  would  see  me  forthcoming  in  the  morning. 

In  the  morning,  before  they  could  fetch  me,  and 
before  the  meeting  was  gathered,  there  came  a  com- 
pany of  foot  soldiers  to  the  house,  and  one  of  them, 
drawing  his  sword,  held  it  over  my  head.    I  asked 


366         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

him  why  he  drew  his  sword  at  an  unarmed  man,  at 
which  his  fellows,  being  ashamed,  bade  him  put  up  his 
sword. 

These  foot  soldiers  took  me  away  to  Whitehall 
before  the  troopers  came  for  me. 

As  I  was  going  out  several  Friends  were  coming  in 
to  the  meeting.  I  commended  their  boldness  and 
cheerfulness,  and  encouraged  them  to  persevere 
therein. 

When  I  was  brought  to  Whitehall,  the  soldiers 
and  people  were  exceedingly  rude,  yet  I  declared 
Truth  to  them.  But  some  great  persons  came  by, 
who  were  very  full  of  envy.  "  Why,"  said  they,  "  do 
ye  let  him  preach?  Put  him  into  a  place  where  he 
may  not  stir." 

So  into  such  a  place  they  put  me,  and  the  soldiers 
watched  over  me.  I  told  them  that,  though  they 
could  confine  my  body  and  shut  that  up,  yet  they 
could  not  stop  the  Word  of  life.  Some  came  and 
asked  me  what  I  was.  I  told  them,  "  A  preacher  of 
righteousness." 

After  I  had  been  kept  there  two  or  three  hours. 
Esquire  Marsh  spoke  to  Lord  Gerrard,  and  he  came 
and  bade  them  set  me  at  liberty.  The  marshal,  when 
I  was  discharged,  demanded  fees.  I  told  him  I  could 
not  give  him  any,  neither  was  it  our  practice;  and  I 
asked  him  how  he  could  demand  fees  of  me,  who  was 
innocent. 

Then  I  went  through  the  guards,  the  Lord's  power 
being  over  them;  and,  after  I  had  declared  Truth  to 
the  soldiers,  I  went  up  the  streets  with  two  Irish 
colonels  that  came  from  Whitehall  to  an  inn  where 


Labors,  Dangers  and  Sufferings.  367 

many  Friends  were  at  that  time  prisoners  imder  a 
^ard.  I  desired  these  colonels  to  speak  to  the  guard 
to  let  me  go  in  to  visit  my  friends  that  were  prisoners 
there;  but  they  would  not.  Tlien  I  stepped  up  to  the 
sentry,  and  desired  him  to  let  me  go  up;  and  he  did 
so. 

While  I  was  there  the  soldiers  went  again  to  Pall- 
Mali  to  search  for  me ;  but  not  finding  me  they  turned 
towards  the  inn,  and  bade  all  come  out  that  were  not 
prisoners;  so  they  went  out.  But  I  asked  the  soldiers 
that  were  within  whether  I  might  not  stay  there  a 
while  with  my  friends.  They  said,  "  Yes."  I  stayed, 
and  so  escaped  their  hands  again.  Towards  night  I 
went  to  Pail-Mall,  to  see  how  it  was  with  the  Friends 
there ;  and,  after  I  had  stayed  a  while,  I  went  up  into 
the  city. 

Great  rifling  of  houses  there  was  at  this  time  to 
search  for  people.  I  went  to  a  private  Friend's 
house,  and  Eichard  Hubberthorn  was  with  me. 
There  we  drew  up  a  declaration  against  plots  and 
fightings,  to  be  presented  to  the  King  and  Council; 
but  when  finished,  and  sent  to  print,  it  was  taken  in 
the  press. 

On  this  insurrection  of  the  Fifth-monarchy  men, 
great  havoc  was  made  both  in  city  and  country,  so 
that  it  was  dangerous  for  sober  people  to  stir  abroad 
for  several  weeks  after.  Men  or  women  could  hardly 
go  up  and  dowTi  the  streets  to  buy  provisions  for  their 
families  without  being  abused.  In  the  country  they 
dragged  men  and  women  out  of  their  houses,  and 
some  sick  men  out  of  their  beds  by  the  legs.  Nay, 
one  man  in  a  fever,  the  soldiers  dragged  out  of  bed 


368         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

to  prison,  and  wlien  he  was  brought  there  he  died. 
His  name  was  Thomas  Pachyn. 

Margaret  Fell  went  to  the  King  and  told  him  what 
sad  work  there  was  in  the  city  and  nation,  and  showed 
him  we  were  an  innocent,  peaceable  people,  and  that 
we  must  keep  our  meetings  as  heretofore,  whatever 
we  suffered;  but  that  it  concerned  him  to  see  that 
peace  was  kept,  that  no  innocent  blood  might  be  shed. 

The  prisons  were  now  everywhere  filled  with 
Friends  and  others,  in  the  city  and  country,  and  the 
posts  were  so  laid  for  the  searching  of  letters  that 
none  could  pass  unsearched.  We  heard  of  several 
thousands  of  our  Friends  that  were  cast  into  prison 
in  several  parts  of  the  nation,  and  Margaret  Fell  car- 
ried an  accoimt  of  them  to  the  King  and  Council. 
The  next  week  we  had  an  account  of  several  thou- 
sands more  that  were  cast  into  prison,  and  she  went 
and  laid  them  also  before  the  King  and  Council. 
They  wondered  how  we  could  have  such  intelligence, 
seeing  they  had  given  such  strict  charge  for  the  inter- 
cepting of  all  letters ;  but  the  Lord  did  so  order  it  that 
we  had  an  account  notwithstanding  all  their  stop- 
pings.* 

Soon  after  the  King  gave  forth  a  proclamation 
that  no  soldiers  should  search  any  house  -without  a 
constable.  But  the  jails  were  still  full,  many  thou- 
sands of  Friends  being  in  prison;  which  mischief  was 
occasioned  by  the  wicked  rising  of  the  Fifth-mon- 


*  Fox  wrote  a  tender  letter  to  the  sufferers  in  prison, 
and  "  a  Declaration  from  the  harmless,  innocent  people 
of  God  called  Quakers  "  was  sent  to  the  King. 


Labors,  Dangers  and  Sufferings.  369 

archy  men.  But  when  those  that  were  taken  came 
to  be  executed,  they  did  us  the  justice  to  clear  us 
openly  from  having  any  hand  in  or  knowledge  of 
their  plot. 

After  that,  the  King  being  continually  importuned 
thereunto,  issued  a  declaration  that  Friends  should 
be  set  at  liberty  without  paying  fees.  But  great  la- 
bour, travail,  and  pains  were  taken  before  this  was 
obtained;  for  Thomas  Moore  and  Margaret  Fell  went 
often  to  the  King  about  it. 

Much  blood  was  shed  this  year,  many  of  the  old 
King's  judges  being  himg,  drawn  and  quartered. 
Amongst  them  that  so  suffered.  Colonel  Hacker  was 
one.  He  had  sent  me  prisoner  from  Leicester  to  Lon- 
don in  Oliver's  time,  of  which  an  account  is  given  be- 
fore. A  sad  day  it  was,  and  a  repaying  of  blood  with 
blood.  For  in  the  time  of  Oliver  Cromwell,  when 
several  men  were  put  to  death  by  him,  being  hung, 
drawn  and  quartered  for  pretended  treasons,  I  felt 
from  the  Lord  God  that  their  blood  would  be  re- 
quired; and  I  said  as  much  then  to  several. 

And  now,  upon  the  King's  return,  several  that  had 
been  against  him  were  put  to  death,  as  the  others  that 
were  for  him  had  been  before  by  Oliver,  This  was 
sad  work,  destroying  people;  contrary  to  the  nature 
of  Christians,  who  have  the  nature  of  lambs  and 
sheep.  But  there  was  a  secret  hand  in  bringing  this 
day  upon  that  hypocritical  generation  of  professors, 
who,  being  got  into  power,  grew  proud,  haughty,  and 
cruel  beyond  others,  and  persecuted  the  people  of 
God  without  pity. 

When  Friends  were  under  cruel  persecutions  and 


370         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

sufferings  in  the  Commonwealtli's  time,  I  was  moved 
of  the  Lord  to  write  to  Friends  to  draw  up  accounts 
of  their  sufferings,  and  lay  them  before  the  justices  at 
their  sessions ;  and  if  they  would  not  do  justice,  then 
to  lay  them  before  the  judges  at  the  assize;  and  if 
they  would  not  do  justice,  then  to  lay  them  before 
the  Parliament,  the  Protector  and  his  Council,  that 
they  might  all  see  what  was  done  under  their  govern- 
ment; and  if  they  would  not  do  justice,  then  to  lay  it 
before  the  Lord,  who  would  hear  the  cries  of  the  op- 
pressed, and  of  the  widows  and  fatherless  whom  they 
had  made  so. 

For  that  for  which  we  suffered,  and  for  which  our 
goods  were  spoiled,  was  our  obedience  to  the  Lord  in 
His  Power  and  His  Spirit.  He  was  able  to  help  and 
to  succour,  and  we  had  no  helper  in  the  earth  but 
Him.  And  He  heard  the  cries  of  His  people,  and 
brought  an  overflowing  scourge  over  the  heads  of  all 
our  persecutors,  which  brought  a  dread  and  a  fear 
amongst  and  on  them  all.  So  that  those  who  had 
nicknamed  us  (who  are  the  children  of  Light)  and  in 
scorn  called  us  Quakers,  the  Lord  made  to  quake; 
and  many  of  them  would  have  been  glad  to  hide  them- 
selves amongst  us;  and  some  of  them,  through  the 
distress  that  came  upon  them,  did  at  length  come  to 
confess  to  the  Truth. 

Many  ways  were  these  professors  warned,  by  word, 
by  writing,  and  by  signs ;  but  they  would  believe  none 
till  it  was  too  late.  William  Sympson  was  moved  of 
the  Lord  to  go  at  several  times  for  three  years  naked 
and  barefooted  before  them,  as  a  sign  to  them,  in 
markets,  courts,  towns,  cities,  to  priests'  houses,  and 


Labors,  Dangers  and  Sufferings.  371 


to  great  men's  houses,  telling  them,  "  So  shall  ye  be 
stripped  naked  as  I  am  stripped  naked !  "  And  some- 
times he  was  moved  to  put  on  hair-sackcloth,  and  to 
besmear  his  face,  and  to  tell  them,  "  So  will  the  Lord 
God  besmear  all  your  religion  as  I  am  besmeared." 

Great  sufferings  did  that  poor  man  undergo,  sore 
whippings  with  horse-whips  and  coach-whips  on  his 
bare  body,  grievous  stoning  and  imprisonments,  in 
three  years'  time,  before  the  King  came  in,  that  they 
jnight  have  taken  warning;  but  they  would  not,  and 
rewarded  his  love  with  cruel  usage.  Only  the  mayor 
of  Cambridge  did  nobly  to  him,  for  he  put  his  gown 
about  him  and  took  him  into  his  house. 

Another  Friend,  Robert  Huntingdon,  was  moved 
of  the  Lord  to  go  into  Carlisle  steeple-house  with  a 
white  sheet  about  him,  amongst  the  great  Presby- 
terians and  Independents  there,  to  show  them  that 
the  surplice  was  coming  up  again;  and  he  put  an 
halter  about  his  neck  to  show  them  that  an  halter  was 
coming  upon  them;  which  was  fulfilled  upon  some  of 
our  persecutors  not  long  after. 

Another,  Richard  Sale,  living  near  Westchester, 
being  constable  of  the  place  where  he  lived,  had  sent 
to  him  with  a  pass  a  Friend  whom  those  wicked  pro- 
fessors had  taken  up  for  a  vagabond,  because  he  trav- 
elled up  and  down  in  the  work  of  the  ministry.  This 
constable,  being  convinced  by  the  Friend  thus 
brought  to  him,  gave  him  his  pass  and  liberty,  and 
was  afterwards  himself  cast  into  prison. 

After  this,  on  a  lecture-day,  Richard  Sale  was 
moved  to  go  to  the  steeple-house  in  the  time  of  their 
worship,  and  to  carry  those  persecuting  priests  and 


372         George  Fox:  An  Autohiography. 

people  a  lantern  and  candle,  as  a  figure  of  their  dark- 
ness. But  they  cruelly  abused  him,  and  like  dark 
professors  as  they  were  put  him  into  their  prison 
called  Little  Ease,  and  so  squeezed  his  body  therein 
that  not  long  after  he  died,^ 

Although  those  Friends  that  had  been  imprisoned 
on  the  rising  of  the  Fifth-monarchy  men  were  set  at 
liberty,  meetings  were  much  disturbed,  and  great  suf- 
ferings Friends  underwent.  For  besides  what  was 
done  by  officers  and  soldiers,  many  wild  fellows  and 
rude  people  often  came  in. 

One  time  when  I  was  at  Pall-Mall  there  came  an 
ambassador  with  a  company  of  Irishmen  and  rude  fel- 
lows. The  meeting  was  over  before  they  came,  and  I 
was  gone  into  a  chamber,  where  I  heard  one  of  them 
say  that  he  would  kill  all  the  Quakers.  I  went  down 
to  him,  and  was  moved  in  the  power  of  the  Lord  to 
spoak  to  him.  I  told  him,  "  The  law  said,  '  An  eye 
for  an  eye,  and  a  tooth  for  a  tooth  ' ;  but  thou  threat- 
eneth  to  kill  all  the  Quakers,  though  they  have  done 


^  These  Friends,  in  their  use  of  signs  and  striking 
symbolisms,  were  undoubtedly  following  in  the  steps  of 
the  Hebrew  prophets.  Both  WUliam  Sympson  and 
Eichard  Sale  were  squeezed  in  Little  Ease,  the  latter, 
being  very  stout,  came  to  his  death  as  a  result.  "  Lit- 
tle Ease  "  was  a  hole  hewed  out  of  a  rock;  the  breadth 
across  seventeen  inches;  from  the  back  to  the  inside  of 
the  great  door  at  the  top  seven  inches;  at  the  shoulders, 
eight  inches;  at  the  breast,  nine  and  a  half  inches;  from 
the  top  to  the  bottom,  one  yard  and  a  half,  with  a  de- 
vice to  lessen  the  height  for  purposes  of  torture. 


Labors,  Dangers  and  Sufferings.  373 

thee  no  hurt.  But,"  said  I,  "  here  is  gospel  for  thee: 
here  is  my  hair,  here  is  my  cheek,  and  here  is  my 
shoulder,"  turning  it  to  him. 

This  so  overcame  him  that  he  and  his  companions 
stood  as  men  amazed,  and  said  that  if  that  was  our 
principle,  and  if  we  were  as  we  said,  they  never  saw 
the  like  in  their  lives.  I  told  them  that  what  I  was  in 
words,  I  also  was  ia  my  life.  Then  the  ambassador, 
who  stood  without, came  in;  for  he  said  that  this  Irish 
colonel  was  a  desperate  man  that  he  durst  not  come  in 
with  him  for  fear  he  should  do  us  some  mischief.  But 
Truth  came  over  the  Irish  colonel,  and  he  carried 
himself  lovingly  towards  us;  as  also  did  the  ambassa- 
dor; for  the  Lord's  power  was  over  them  all. 

At  Mile-End  Friends  were  kept  out  of  their  meet- 
ing-place by  soldiers,  but  they  stood  nobly  in  the 
Truth,  valiant  for  the  Lord's  name;  and  at  last  the 
Truth  gave  them  dominion. 

About  this  time  wc  had  an  account  that  John 
Love,  a  Friend  that  was  moved  to  go  and  bear  testi- 
mony against  the  idolatry  of  the  Papists,  was  dead  in 
prison  at  Rome ;  it  was  suspected  he  was  privately  put 
to  death.  Also  before  this  time  we  received  account 
from  New  England  that  the  government  there  had 
made  a  law  to  banish  the  Quakers  out  of  their  colo- 
nies, upon  pain  of  death  in  case  they  returned;  that 
several  of  our  Friends,  having  been  so  banished  and 
returning,  were  thereupon  taken  and  actually  hanged, 
and  that  divers  more  were  in  prison,  in  danger  of  the 
like  sentence  being  executed  upon  them.  When 
those  were  put  to  death  I  was  in  prison  at  Lancaster, 
and  had  a  perfect  sense  of  their  sufferings  as  though 


374         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


it  had  been  myself,  and  as  though,  the  halter  had  been 
put  about  my  own  neck,  though  we  had  not  at  that 
time  heard  of  it.® 

As  soon  as  we  heard  of  it,  Edward  Burrough  went 
to  the  King  and  told  him  that  there  was  a  vein  of 
innocent  blood  opened  in  his  dominions  which,  if  it 
were  not  stopped,  would  overrun  all.  To  this  the 
King  replied,  "  But  I  will  stop  that  vein."  Edward 
Burrough  said,  "  Then  do  it  speedily,  for  we  know 
not  how  many  may  soon  be  put  to  death."  The  King 
answered,  "  As-  speedily  as  ye  will.  Call,"  (said  he  to 
some  present)  "  the  secretary,  and  I  will  do  it  pres- 
ently." 

The  secretary  being  called,  a  mandamus  was  forth- 
with granted.  A  day  or  two  after,  Edward  Burrough 
going  again  to  the  King  to  desire  the  matter  might  be 
expedited,  the  King  said  he  had  no  occasion  at  present 
to  send  a  ship  thither,  but  if  we  would  send  one  we 
might  do  it  as  soon  as  we  would.  Edward  then  asked 
the  King  if  it  would  please  him  to  grant  his  deputa- 
tion to  one  called  a  Quaker  to  carry  the  mandamus  to 
New  England.    lie  said,  "  .Yes,  to  whom  ye  will." 

Whereupon  Edward  Burrough  named  Samuel 
Shattuck,  who,  being  an  inhabitant  of  New  England, 
was  banished  by  their  law,  to  be  hanged  if  he  came 
again;  and  to  him  the  deputation  was  granted.  Then 
he  sent  for  Ralph  Goldsmith,  an  honest  Friend,  who 
was  master  of  a  good  ship,  and  agreed  with  him  for 
three  hundred  pounds  (goods  or  no  goods)  to  sail  in 


®  We  have  already  seen  how  frequently  George  Fox 
had  what  nowadays  are  called  telepathic  experiences. 


Labors,  Dangers  and  Sufferings.  375 


ten  days.  He  forthwith  prepared  to  set  sail,  and  with 
a  prosperous  gale,  in  about  six  weeks'  time,  arrived 
before  the  town  of  Boston  in  New  England,  upon  a 
First-day  morning. 

With  him  went  many  passengers,  both  of  New 
and  Old  England,  Friends,  whom  the  Lord  moved  to 
go  to  bear  their  testimony  against  those  bloody  per- 
secutors, who  had  exceeded  all  the  world  in  that  age 
in  their  bloody  persecutions. 

The  townsmen  at  Boston,  seeing  a  ship  come  into 
the  bay  vdth  English  colours,  soon  came  on  board  and 
asked  for  the  captain.  Ealph  Goldsmith  told  them 
he  was  the  commander.  They  asked  him  if  he  had 
any  letters.  He  said,  "  Yes."  They  asked  if  he 
would  deliver  them.    He  said,  "  No;  not  to-day." 

So  they  went  ashore  and  reported  that  there  was  a 
ship  full  of  Quakers,  and  that  Samuel  Shattuek,  who 
they  knew  was  by  their  law  to  be  put  to  death  if  he 
came  again  after  banishment,  was  among  them,  but 
they  knew  not  his  errand  nor  his  authority. 

So  all  were  kept  close  that  day,  and  none  of  the 
ship's  company  suffered  to  go  on  shore.  Next  morn- 
ing Samuel  Shattuek,  the  King's  deputy,  and  Ralpli 
Goldsmith,  went  on  shore,  and,  sending  back  to  the 
ship  the  men  that  landed  them,  they  two  went 
through  the  town  to  Governor  John  Endicott's  door, 
and  knocked.  He  sent  out  a  man  to  know  their  busi- 
ness. They  sent  him  word  that  their  business  was 
from  the  King  of  England,  and  that  they  would  de- 
liver their  message  to  no  one  but  the  Governor  him- 
self. 

Thereupon  they  were  admitted,  and  the  Governor 


376         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


came  to  them;  and  having  received  the  deputation 
and  the  mandamus,  he  put  off  his  hat  and  looked  upon 
them.  Then,  going  out,  he  bade  the  Friends  foUovs^ 
him.  He  went  to  the  deputy-governor,  and  after  a 
short  consultation  came  out  to  the  Friends,  and  said, 
"  We  shall  obey  his  majesty's  commands." 

After  this  the  master  gave  liberty  to  the  passen- 
gers to  come  on  shore,  and  presently  the  noise  of  the 
business  flew  about  the  town;  and  the  Friends  of  the 
town  and  the  passengers  of  the  ship  met  together  to 
offer  up  their  praises  and  thanksgivings  to  God,  who 
had  so  wonderfully  delivered  them  from  the  teeth  of 
the  devourer. 

While  they  were  thus  met,  in  came  a  poor  Friend, 
who,  being  sentenced  by  their  bloody  law  to  die,  had 
lain  some  time  in  irons  expecting  execution.  This 
added  to  their  joy,  and  caused  them  to  lift  up  their 
hearts  in  high  praise  to  God,  who  is  worthy  for  ever 
to  have  the  praise,  the  glory,  and  the  honour;  for  He 
only  is  able  to  deliver,  to  save,  and  support  all  that 
sincerely  put  their  trust  in  Him.  Here  follows  a 
copy  of  the  mandamus. 

"  Charles  R. 

"  Trusty  and  well-beloved,  We  greet  you  well. 
Having  been  informed  that  several  of  our  subjects 
amongst  you,  called  Quakers,  have  been  and  are  im- 
prisoned by  you,  whereof  some  have  been  executed, 
and  others  (as  hath  been  represented  unto  us)  are  in 
danger  to  undergo  the  like,  we  have  thought  fit  to 
signify  our  pleasure  in  that  behalf  for  the  future ;  and 
do  hereby  require  that  if  there  be  any  of  those  people 
called  Quakers  amongst  you,  now  already  condemned 


Labors,  Dangers  and  Sufferings.  377 


to  suffer  death  or  other  corporal  punishment,  or  that 
are  imprisoned  and  obnoxious  to  the  like  condemna- 
tion, you  are  to  forbear  to  proceed  any  further 
therein;  but  that  you  forthwith  send  the  said  persons 
(whether  condemned  or  imprisoned)  over  into  this 
our  kingdom  of  England,  together  with  the  respec- 
tive crimes  or  offences  laid  to  their  charge,  to  the  end 
that  such  course  may  be  taken  with  them  here  as 
shall  be  agreeable  to  our  laws  and  their  demerits. 
And  for  so  doing,  these  our  letters  shall  be  your  suffi- 
cient warrant  and  discharge.  Given  at  our  court  at 
Whitehall  the  ninth  day  of  September,  1661,  in  the 
13th  year  of  our  reign." 

Subscribed:  "To  our  trusty  and  well-beloved 
John  Endicott,  Esquire,  and  to  all  and  every  other 
the  Governor  or  governors  of  our  plantations  of 
New  England,  and  of  all  the  colonies  thereunto  be- 
longing, that  now  are  or  hereafter  shall  be,  and  to  all 
and  every  the  ministers  and  officers  of  our  planta- 
tions and  colonies  whatsoever  within  the  continent  of 
New  England.       "  By  his  majesty's  command, 

"  William  Morris."  ^ 

'  Whittier  has  beautifully  told  the  story  of  Samuel 
Shattuck's  mission  in  his  poem,  "  The  King's  Missive." 
Longfellow  has  made  the  sufferings  of  the  Quakers  the 
subject  of  his  dramatic  poem,  "  New  England  Trage- 
dies." The  story  of  Quaker  sufferings  is  told  in  George 
Bishop's  "New  England  Judged."  The  best  modern 
book  on  the  subject  is  Hallowell's  "  Quaker  Invasion  of 
Massachusetts."  Four  Friends  were  executed — William 
Robinson,  Marmaduke  Stevenson,  William  Ledra  and 
Mary  Dyer. 


378         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


Some  time  after  this  several  Xew  England  magis- 
trates came  over,  with  one  of  their  priests.  ^Ve  had 
several  discourses  with  them  concerning  their  mur- 
dering our  Friends,  the  servants  of  the  Lord;  but 
they  were  ashamed  to  stand  to  their  bloody  actions. 

On  one  of  these  occasions  I  asked  Simon  Broad- 
street,  one  of  the  Xew  England  magistrates,  whether 
he  had  not  had  a  hand  in  putting  to  death  those  four 
servants  of  God,  whom  they  hung  only  for  being 
Quakers,  as  they  had  nicknamed  them.  He  con- 
fessed that  he  had.  I  then  asked  him  and  the  rest  of 
his  associates  that  were  present  whether  they  would 
acknowledge  themselves  to  be  subject  to  the  laws  of 
England ;  and  if  they  did,  by  what  laws  they  had  put 
our  Friends  to  death.  They  said  they  were  subject 
to  the  laws  of  England,  and  had  put  our  Friends  to 
death  by  the  same  law  that  the  Jesuits  were  put  to 
death  in  England. 

I  asked  them  then  whether  they  believed  those 
Friends  of  ours  whom  they  had  put  to  death  were 
Jesuits  or  jesuitically  affected.  They  said,  "  Xay." 
"  Then,"  said  I,  "  ye  have  murdered  them,  if  ye  have 
put  them  to  death  by  the  law  by  which  Jesuits  are 
put  to  death  here  in  England,  and  yet  confess  they 
were  no  Jesuits.  By  this  it  plainly  appears  ye  have 
put  them  to  death  in  your  own  wills,  without  any 
law." 

Then  Simon  Broadstreet,  finding  himself  and  his 
company  ensnared  by  their  own  words,  asked  if  we 
came  to  catch  them.  I  told  them  they  had  caught 
themselves,  and  might  justly  be  questioned  for  their 
lives;  and  if  the  father  of  William  Robinson,  one  of 


Labors,  Dangers  and  Sufferings.  379 

them  that  were  put  to  death,  were  in  town,  it  was 
probable  he  would  question  them,  and  bring  their 
lives  into  jeopardy. 

Here  they  began  to  excuse  themselves,  saying, 
"  There  is  no  persecution  now  amongst  us."  But 
next  morning  we  had  letters  from  IvTew  England  tell- 
ing us  that  our  Friends  were  persecuted  there  afresh. 
We  went  again  and  showed  them  our  letters,  which 
put  them  both  to  silence  and  to  shame;  and  in  great 
fear  they  seemed  to  be  lest  some  one  should  call 
them  to  account  and  prosecute  them  for  their  lives. 
Especially  was  Simon  Broadstreet  fearful;  for  he  had 
before  so  many  witnesses  confessed  that  he  had  a 
hand  in  putting  our  Friends  to  death,  that  he  could 
not  get  off  from  it;  though  he  afterwards  through 
fear  shuffled,  and  would  have  unsaid  it  again.  After 
this,  he  and  the  rest  soon  returned  to  New  England 
again. 

I  went  also  to  Governor  Winthrop,  and  discoursed 
with  him  on  these  matters.  He  assured  me  that  he 
had  no  hand  in  putting  our  Friends  to  death,  or  in 
any  way  persecuting  them;  but  was  one  of  them  that 
protested  against  it. 

About  this  time  I  lost  a  very  good  book,  being 
taken  in  the  printer's  hands ;  it  was  a  useful  teaching 
work,  containing  the  signification  and  explanation  of 
names,  parables,  types,  and  figures  in  the  Scriptures. 
They  who  took  it  were  so  affected  with  it,  that  they 
were  loth  to  destroy  it ;  but  thinking  to  make  a  great 
advantage  of  it,  they  would  have  let  us  have  it  again, 
if  we  would  have  given  them  a  great  sum  of  money 
for  it ;  which  we  were  not  free  to  do. 


380         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


Before  this,  while  I  was  prisoner  in  Lancaster  Cas- 
tle, the  book  called  the  "  Battledore  "  was  published, 
which  was  written  to  show  that  in  all  languages  Thou 
and  Thee  is  the  proper  and  usual  form  of  speech  to  a 
single  person;  and  You  to  more  than  one.  This  was 
set  forth  in  examples  or  instances  taken  from  the 
Scriptures,  and  books  of  teaching,  in  about  thirty 
languages.  J.  Stubbs  and  Benjamin  Furly  took  great 
pains  in  compiling  it,  which  I  set  them  upon;  and 
some  things  I  added  to  it.* 


*  Here  is  the  title  page  to  this  curious  old  book 
which  is  now  very  rare,  and  is  much  valued  by  collec- 
tors: 

"  A  Battle-Door  for  Teachers  &  Professors  to  learn 
Singular  and  Plural;  You  to  Many,  and  Thou  to  One: 
Singular  One,  Thou;  Plural  Many,  You,  Wherein  is 
shewed  forth  by  Grammar,  or  Scripture  Examples,  how 
several  Nations  and  People  have  made  a  distinction 
between  Singular  and  Plural,  And  First.  In  the  former 
part  of  this  Book,  Called  the  English  Battle-Door,  may 
be  seen  how  several  People  have  spoken  Singular  and 
Plural,  As  the  Apharsathkites,  The  Tarpelites,  The 
Apharsites,  The  Archevites,  The  Babylonians,  The 
Susanchites,  The  Dehavites,  The  Elamites,  The 
Temanites,  The  Naomites,  The  Shuites,  The 
Buzites,  The  Moabites,  The  Hevites,  The  Edom- 
ites.  The  Philistines,  The  Amalekites,  The  Sod- 
omites, The  Hittites,  The  Midianites,  &c.  Also, 
in  this  Book  is  set  forth  Examples  of  the  Sin- 
gular and  Plural  About  Thou,  and  You  in  several 
Languages  divided  into  distinct  Battle-Doors,  or  Forms, 
or  Examples;  English,  Latine,  Italian,  Greek,  Hebrew, 


Labors,  Dangers  and  Sufferings.  381 


When  it  was  finished,  copies  were  presented  to  the 
King  and  his  Council,  to  the  Bishops  of  Canterbury 
and  London,  and  to  the  two  universities  one  each; 
and  many  purchased  them.  The  King  said  it  was  the 
proper  language  of  all  nations;  and  the  Bishop  of 
Canterbury,  being  asked  what  he  thought  of  it,  was 
at  a  stand,  and  could  not  tell  what  to  say  to  it.  For 
it  did  so  inform  and  convince  people,  that  few  after- 
wards were  so  rugged  toward  us  for  saying  Thou  and 
Thee  to  a  single  person,  for  which  before  they  were 
exceedingly  fierce  against  us. 

Thou  and  Thee  was  a  sore  cut  to  proud  flesh,  and 
them  that  sought  self-honour,  who,  though  they 


Caldec,  Syriack,  Arabick,  Pcrsiack,  Ethiopick,  Samari- 
tan, Coptick  or  Egyptick,  Armenian,  Saxon,  Welch, 
Mence,  Cornish,  French,  Spanish,  Portugal,  High- 
Dutch,  Low  Dutch,  Danish,  Bohemian,  Slavonian,  and 
how  Emperors  and  others  have  used  the  Singular  Word 
to  One;  and  how  the  Word  You  (to  one)  came  first  from 
the  Pope.  Likewise  some  examples,  in  the  Polonian, 
Lithvanian,  Irish  and  East-Indian,  Together  with  the 
Singular  and  Plural  Words  thou  and  you,  in  Swedish, 
Turkish,  Muscovian  and  Curlandian  tongues, — In  the 
latter  part  of  this  Book  are  contained  several  bad  un- 
savoury words  gathered  first  for  certain  School  Books, 
which  have  been  taught  Boyes  in  England,  which  is  a 
Rod  and  a  Whip  to  the  School  Masters  in  England  and 
elsewhere  who  teach  such  Books.  Geo.  Fox,  Jno. 
Stubbs,  Benjamin  Furley. 

"London:  Printed  for  Eobt.  Wilson,  and  are  to  be 
sold  at  his  Shop  at  the  Signe  of  the  Black-Spread-Eagle 
and  Wind-Mil  in  Martins  le  Grand  1660." 


382         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

would  say  it  to  God  and  Christ,  could  not  endure  to 
have  it  said  to  themselves.  So  that  we  were  often 
beaten  and  abused,  and  sometimes  in  danger  of  our 
lives,  for  using  those  words  to  some  proud  men,  who 
would  say,  "  What !  you  ill-bred  clown,  do  you  Thou 
me  ?  "  as  though  Christian  breeding  consisted  in  say- 
ing You  to  one ;  which  is  contrary  to  all  their  gram- 
mars and  teaching  books,  by  which  they  instructed 
their  youth. 

About  this  time  many  Papists  and  Jesuits  began 
to  fawn  upon  Friends,  and  talked  up  and  down  where 
they  came,  that  of  all  the  sects  the  Quakers  were  the 
best  and  most  self-denying  people;  and  they  said  it 
was  great  pity  that  they  did  not  return  to  the  Holy 
Mother  Church.  Thus  they  made  a  buzz  among  the 
people,  and  said  they  would  willingly  discourse  with 
Friends.  But  Friends  were  loth  to  meddle  with 
them,  because  they  were  Jesuits,  looking  upon  it  to 
be  both  dangerous  and  scandalous. 

But  when  I  imderstood  it,  I  said  to  Friends,  "  Let 
us  discourse  with  them,  be  they  what  they  will."  So 
a  time  being  appointed  at  Gerrard  Roberts's,  there 
came  two  of  them  like  courtiers.  They  asked  our 
names,  which  we  told  them;  but  we  did  not  ask  their 
names,  for  we  imderstood  they  were  called  Papists, 
and  they  knew  we  were  called  Quakers. 

I  asked  them  the  same  question  that  I  had  for- 
merly asked  a  Jesuit,  namely,  whether  the  Church 
of  Rome  was  not  degenerated  from  the  Church  in 
the  primitive  times,  from  the  Spirit,  power,  and  prac- 
tice that  they  were  in  in  the  Apostles'  times  ?  He  to 
whom  I  put  this  question,  being  subtle,  said  he  would 


Labors,  Dangers  and  Sufferings.  383 


not  answer  it.  I  asked  him  wliy.  But  he  would  show 
no  reason.  His  companion  said  he  would  answer  me; 
and  said  that  they  were  not  degenerated  from  the 
Church  in  the  primitive  times.  I  asked  the  other 
whether  he  was  of  the  same  mind.    He  said,  "  Yes." 

Then  I  replied  that,  for  the  better  understanding 
one  of  another,  and  that  there  might  be  no  mistake,  I 
would  repeat  my  question  over  again  after  this  man- 
ner: "Is  the  Church  of  Home  now  in  the  same 
purity,  practice,  power,  and  Spirit  that  the  Church 
in  the  Apostles'  time  was  in  ?  "  When  thesy  saw  we 
would  be  exact  with  them,  they  flew  off  and  denied 
that,  saying  it  was  presumption  in  any  to  say  they 
had  the  same  power  and  Spirit  which  the  Apostles 
had. 

I  told  them  it  was  presumption  in  them  to  meddle 
with  the  words  of  Christ  and  His  Apostles,  and  make 
people  believe  they  succeeded  the  Apostles,  yet  be 
forced  to  confess  they  were  not  in  the  same  power 
and  Spirit  that  the  Apostles  were  in.  "  This,"  said 
I,  "  is  a  spirit  of  presumption,  and  rebuked  by  the 
Apostles'  spirit." 

I  showed  them  how  different  their  fruits  and  prac- 
tices were  from  the  fruits  and  practices  of  the  Aposr 
ties. 

Then  got  up  one  of  them,  and  said,  "  Ye  are  a 
company  of  dreamers."  "  N"ay,"  said  I,  "  ye  are  the 
filthy  dreamers,  who  dream  ye  are  the  Apostles'  suc- 
cessors, and  yet  confess  ye  have  not  the  same  power 
and  Spirit  which  the  Apostles  were  in.  And  are  not 
they  defilers  of  the  flesh  who  say  it  is  presumption 
for  any  to  say  they  have  the  same  power  and  Spirit 


384         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

which  the  Apostles  had  ?  Now,"  said  I,  "  if  ye  have 
not  the  same  power  and  Spirit  which  the  Apostles 
had,  then  it  is  manifest  that  ye  are  led  by  another 
power  and  spirit  than  that  by  which  the  Apostles 
and  Church  in  the  primitive  times  were  led." 

Then  I  began  to  tell  them  how  that  evil  spirit  by 
which  they  were  led  had  led  them  to  pray  by  beads 
and  to  images,  and  to  set  up  nunneries,  friaries,  and 
monasteries,  and  to  put  people  to  death  for  religion; 
which  practices  I  showed  them  were  below  the  law, 
and  far  short  of  the  gospel,  in  which  is  liberty. 

They  were  soon  weary  of  this  discourse,  and  went 
their  way,  and  gave  a  charge,  as  we  heard,  to  the 
Papists,  that  they  should  not  dispute  with  us,  nor 
read  any  of  our  books. 

So  we  were  rid  of  them;  but  we  had  reasonings 
with  all  the  other  sects,  Presbyterians,  Independents, 
Seekers,  Baptists,  Episcopal  men,  Socinians,  Brown- 
ists,  Lutherans,  Calvinists,  Arminians,  Fifth-mon- 
archy men,  Familists,  Muggletonians,  and  Ranters; 
none  of  which  would  affirm  that  they  had  the  same 
power  and  Spirit  that  the  Apostles  had  and  were  in; 
so  in  that  power  and  Spirit  the  Lord  gave  U3 
dominion  over  them  all. 

As  for  the  Fifth-monarchy  men  I  was  moved  to 
give  forth  a  paper,  to  manifest  their  error  to  them; 
for  they  looked  for  Christ's  personal  coming  in  an 
outward  form  and  manner,  and  fixed  the  time  to  the 
year  1666;  at  which  time  some  of  them  prepared 
themselves  when  it  thundered  and  rained,  thinking 
Christ  was  then  come  to  set  up  His  kingdom,  and 


Labors,  Dangers  and  Sufferings.  385 

they  imagined  thej  were  to  kill  the  whore  without 
them. 

But  I  told  them  that  the  whore  was  alive  in  them, 
and  was  not  burned  with  God's  fire,  nor  judged  in 
them  with  the  same  power  and  Spirit  the  Apostles 
were  in;  and  that  their  looking  for  Christ's  coming 
outwardly  to  set  up  His  kingdom  was  like  the  Phari- 
sees' "  Lo  here,"  and  "  Lo  there."  But  Christ  was 
come,  and  had  set  up  His  kingdom  above  sixteen  hun- 
dred years  ago,  according  to  ISTebuchadnezzar's  dream 
and  Daniel's  prophecy,  and  He  had  dashed  to  pieces 
the  four  monarchies,  the  great  image,  with  its  head 
of  gold,  breast  and  arms  of  silver,  belly  and  thighs  of 
brass,  legs  of  iron,  and  its  feet  part  of  iron  part  of 
clay;  and  they  were  all  blown  away  with  God's  wind, 
as  the  chaff  in  the  summer  threshing-floor. 

And  I  told  them  that  when  Christ  was  on  earth. 
He  said  His  kingdom  was  not  of  this  world ;  if  it  had 
been.  His  servants  would  have  fought;  but  it  was 
not,  therefore  His  servants  did  not  fight.  Therefore 
all  the  Fifth-monarchy  men  that  are  fighters  with 
carnal  weapons  are  none  of  Christ's  servants,  but  the 
beast's  and  the  whore's.  Christ  said,  "  All  power  in 
heaven  and  in  earth  is  given  to  me";  so  then  His 
kingdom  was  set  up  above  sixteen  hundred  years  ago, 
and  He  reigns.  "  And  we  see  Jesus  Christ  reign," 
said  the  Apostle,  "  and  He  shall  reign  till  all  things 
be  put  under  His  feet  " ;  though  all  things  are  not 
yet  put  under  His  feet,  nor  subdued. 

This  year  several  Friends  were  moved  to  go 
beyond  the  seas,  to  publish  Truth  in  foreign  coun- 
tries.   John  Stubbs,  and  Henry  Fell,  and  Richard 


386         George  Fox:  An  AutobiograpJiy. 

Costrop  were  moved  to  go  towards  China  and  Prester 
John's  country;  but  no  masters  of  ships  would  carry 
them.''  With  much  ado  they  got  a  warrant  from  the 
Eng;  but  the  East  India  Company  found  ways  to 
avoid  it,  and  the  masters  of  their  ships  would  not 
carry  them. 

Then  they  went  into  Holland,  hoping  to  get  pass- 
age there,  but  none  could  they  get  there  either.  Then 
J ohn  Stubbs  and  Henry  Fell  took  shipping  for  Alex- 
andria, in  Egypt,  intending  to  go  thence  by  the  cara- 
vans. Meanwhile  Daniel  Baker,  being  moved  to 
go  to  Smyrna,  drew  Eichard  Costrop,  contrary  to 
his  own  freedom,  to  go  along  with  him;  and  in  the 
passage,  Richard  falling  sick,  Daniel  Baker  left  him 
so  in  the  ship,  where  he  died;  but  that  hard-hearted 
man  afterwards  lost  his  own  condition. 

John  Stubbs  and  Henry  Eell  reached  Alexandria; 
but  they  had  not  been  long  there  before  the  English 
consul  banished  them;  yet  before  they  came  away, 
they  dispersed  many  books  and  papers  for  opening 


"  These  Friends  undoubtedly  believed  that  the  prin- 
ciples of  truth  which  they  had  discovered  would  ulti- 
mately prevail  o\er  the  entire  globe. 

"  Prester  J ohn's  Country  "  was  Abyssinia.  Prester 
John  was  a  legendary  Christian  priest,  who  was  be- 
lieved in  the  early  Middle  Ages  to  reign  over  this  East- 
ern country.  About  this  time  Catherine  Evans  and 
Sarah  Chevers,  in  their  travels,  were  put  in  the  inqui- 
sition-prison at  Malta,  from  which  Fox  secured  their 
release,  through  the  influence  of  Lord  D'Aubeny,  a 
Eoman  Catholic. 


Labors,  Dangers  and  Sufferings.  387 


the  principles  and  way  of  Truth  to  the  Turks  and 
Grecians.  They  gave  the  book  called,  "  The  Pope's 
Strength  Broken,"  to  an  old  friar,  for  him  to  give  or 
send  to  the  Pope.  When  the  friar  had  perused  it  he 
placed  his  hand  on  his  breast  and  confessed,  What 
is  written  therein  is  truth;  but,"  said  he,  "  if  I  should 
confess  it  openly,  they  would  bum  me." 

John  Stubbs  and  Henry  Fell,  not  being  suffered  to 
go  further,  returned  to  England,  and  came  to  Lon- 
don again,  John  had  a  vision  that  the  English  and 
Dutch,  who  had  joined  together  not  to  carry  them, 
would  fall  out  one  with  the  other;  and  so  it  came  to 
pass. 

Among  the  exercises  and  troubles  that  Friends  had 
from  without,  one  was  concerning  Friends'  mar- 
riages, which  sometimes  were  called  in  question.'"  In 
this  year  there  happened  to  be  a  cause  tried  at  the  as- 
size at  Nottingham  concerning  a  Friend's  marriage. 

The  case  was  thus:  Some  years  before  two  Friends 
were  joined  together  in  marriage  amongst  Friends, 
and  lived  together  as  man  and  wife  about  two  years. 
Then  the  man  died,  leaving  his  wife  with  child,  and 
leaving  an  estate  in  lands  of  copyhold.  When  the 
woman  was  delivered,  the  jury  presented  the  child 
heir  to  its  father's  lands,  and  accordingly  the  child 
was  admitted;  afterwards  another  Friend  married  the 
widow.   After  that  a  person  near  of  kin  to  her  former 


Friends  are  married  without  clergyman  or  magis- 
trate. 1  he  bridal  couple  stand  up  in  a  religious  assem- 
bly, and,  taking  each  other  by  the  hand,  promise  to  be 
husband  and  wife  till  death. 


388         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


husband  brought  his  action  against  the  Friend  who 
had  last  married  her,  endeavoring  to  dispossess  them, 
and  deprive  the  child  of  the  inheritance,  and  to  pos- 
sess himself  thereof  as  next  heir  to  the  Avoman's  first 
husband.  To  effect  this  he  endeavoured  to  prove  the 
child  illegitimate,  alleging  that  the  marriage  was  not 
according  to  law. 

In  opening  the  cause  the  plaintiff's  counsel  used 
unseemly  words  concerning  Friends,  saying  that 
"  they  went  together  like  brute  beasts,"  with  other 
ill  expressions.  After  the  counsel  on  both  sides  had 
pleaded,  the  Judge  (viz..  Judge  Archer)  took  the  mat- 
ter in  hand,  and  opened  it  to  them,  telling  them, 
"  There  was  a  marriage  in  paradise  when  Adam  took 
Eve  and  Eve  took  Adam,  and  it  was  the  consent  of 
the  parties  that  made  a  marriage."  And  for  the 
Quakers,  he  said,  he  did  not  know  their  opinions;  but 
he  did  not  believe  they  went  together  as  brute  beasts, 
as  had  been  said  of  them,  but  as  Christians;  and 
therefore  he  did  believe  the  marriage  was  lawful,  and 
the  child  lawful  heir. 

The  better  to  satisfy  the  jury  he  brought  them  a 
case  to  this  purpose :  "  A  man  that  was  weak  of  body, 
and  kept  his  bed,  had  a  desire  in  that  condition  to 
marry,  and  did  declare  before  witnesses  that  he  did 
take  such  a  woman  to  be  his  wife,  and  the  woman  de- 
clared that  she  took  that  man  to  be  her  husband. 
This  marriage  was  afterwards  called  in  question,  and 
all  the  bishops  did  conclude  it  to  be  a  lawful  mar- 
riage." 

Hereupon  the  jury  gave  in  their  verdict  for  the 


Labors,  Dangers  and  Sufferings.  389 


Friend's  child  against  the  man  that  would  have  de- 
prived it  of  its  inheritance. 

ISTow,  there  being  very  many  Friends  in  prison  in 
the  nation,"  Richard  Hubberthorn  and  I  drew  up 
a  paper  concerning  them,  and  got  it  delivered  to  the 
King,  that  he  might  understand  how  we  were  dealt 
with  by  his  officers.  It  Avas  directed  thus: 

"  Foe  the  King  : 

"  Friexd,  Who  art  the  chief  ruler  of  these  do- 
minions, here  is  a  list  of  some  of  the  sufferings  of  the 
people  of  God,  in  scorn  called  Quakers,  that  have 
suffered  under  the  changeable  powers  before  thee, 
by  whom  there  have  been  imprisoned,  and  under 
whom  there  have  suffered  for  good  conscience'  sake, 
and  for  bearing  testimony  to  the  truth  as  it  is  in 
Jesus,  three  thousand  one  hundi'ed  and  seventy-three 
persons;  and  there  lie  yet  in  prison,  in  the  name  of 
the  Commonwealth,  seventy-three  persons,  that  we 
know  of.  And  there  died  in  prison  in  the  time  of  the 
Commonwealth,  and  of  Oliver  and  Richard  the  Pro- 
tectors, through  cruel  and  hard  imprisonments,  upon 
nasty  straw  and  in  dungeons,  thirty-two  persons. 
There  have  been  also  imprisoned  in  thy  name,  since 
thy  arrival,  by  such  as  thought  to  ingratiate  them- 
selves thereby  with  thee,  three  thousand  sixty  and 
eight  persons.    Besides  this  our  meetings  are  daily 


It  is  estimated  that  at  this  time  there  were  not  less 
than  4,500  Friends  in  the  prisons  of  England  and 
Wales.  This  letter  to  the  King  is  strikingly  direct  and 
straightforward. 


390         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


broken  up  by  men  with  ehibs  and  arms,  though  we 
meet  peaceably,  according  to  the  practice  of  God's 
people  in  the  primitive  times,  and  our  Friends  are 
thrown  into  waters,  and  trodden  upon,  till  the  very 
blood  gushes  out  of  them;  the  number  of  which 
abuses  can  hardly  be  uttered. 

"  1^0 w  this,  we  woidd  have  of  thee,  to  set  them  at 
liberty  that  lie  in  prison  in  the  names  of  the  Com- 
monwealth, and  of  the  two  Protectors,  and  them  that 
lie  in  thy  own  name,  for  speaking  the  truth,  and  for 
good  conscience'  sake,  who  have  not  lifted  up  a  hand 
against  thee  or  any  man;  and  that  the  meetings  of 
our  friends,  who  meet  peaceably  together  in  the  fear 
of  God,  to  worship  Him,  may  not  be  broken  up  by 
rude  people  with  their  clubs,  swords,  and  staves.  One 
of  the  greatest  things  that  we  have  sviffered  for  form- 
erly was,  because  we  could  not  swear  to  the  Protec- 
tors and  all  the  changeable  governments;  and  now 
we  are  imprisoned  because  we  cannot  take  the  oath  of 
allegiance.  Now,  if  our  yea  be  not  yea,  and  nay,  nay, 
to  thee,  and  to  all  men  xipon  the  earth,  let  us  suffer 
as  much  for  breaking  that,  as  others  do  for  breaking 
an  oath.  We  have  suffered  these  many  years,  both 
in  lives  and  estates,  under  these  changeable  govern- 
ments, because  we  cannot  swear,  but  obey  Christ's 
doctrine,  who  commands  we  should  not '  swear  at  all,' 
and  this  we  seal  with  our  lives  and  estates,  with  our 
yea  and  nay,  according  to  the  doctrine  of  Christ. 

"  Hearken  to  these  things,  and  so  consider  them  in 
the  wisdom  of  thy  God  that  by  it  such  actions  may  be 
stopped;  thou  that  hast  the  government,  and  mayst 
do  it.    We  desire  all  that  are  in  prison  may  be  set 


Labors,  Dangers  and  Sufferings.  391 


at  liberty,  aud  that  for  the  time  to  come  they  may 
not  be  imprisoned  for  conscience'  and  for  the  Truth's 
sake.  If  thon  question  the  innoeency  of  their  suffer- 
ings, let  them  and  their  accusers  be  brought  before 
thee,  and  we  shall  produce  a  more  particular  and  full 
accoimt  of  their  sufferings,  if  required." 


CHAPTER  XV. 
In  ^Prison  for  not  Siwcartng* 

1662-1665. 

After  I  had  made  some  stay  in  London,  and  had 
cleared  myself  of  those  services  that  at  that  time  lay 
upon  me  there,  I  went  into  the  country,  having  with 
me  Alexander  Parker  and  John  Stubbs.  We  trav- 
elled through  the  country,  visiting  Friends'  meetings, 
till  we  came  to  Bristol. 

There  we  understood  the  officers  were  likely  to 
come  and  break  up  the  meeting;  yet  on  First-day  we 
went  to  the  meeting  at  Broadmead,  and  Alexander 
Parker  standing  up  first,  while  he  was  speaking  the 
officers  came  and  took  him  away.  After  he  was  gone, 
I  stood  up  and  declared  the  everlasting  Truth  of  the 
Lord  God  in  His  eternal  power,  which  came  over  all; 
the  meeting  was  quiet  the  rest  of  the  time,  and  broke 
up  peaceably.  I  tarried  till  the  First-day  following, 
visiting  Friends,  and  being  visited  by  them. 

On  First-day  morning  several  Friends  came  to  Ed- 
ward Pyot's  house  (where  I  lay  the  night  before), 
and  used  great  endeavours  to  persuade  me  not  to  go 
to  the  meeting  that  day,  for  the  magistrates,  they 
said,  had  threatened  to  take  me,  and  had  raised  the 
trained  bands.  I  wished  them  to  go  to  the  meeting, 
not  telling  them  what  I  intended  to  do;  but  I  told 
Edward  Pyot  I  intended  to  go,  and  he  sent  his  son  to 
show  me  the  way  from  his  house  by  the  fields. 


In  Prison  for  not  Swearing.  393 

As  I  went  I  met  divers  Friends  who  were  coming 
to  me  to  prevent  my  going,  and  who  did  what  they 
could  to  stop  me.  "  What !  "  said  one,  "  wilt  thou 
go  into  the  mouth  of  the  beast  ?  "  "  Wilt  thou  go 
into  the  mouth  of  the  dragon  ?  "  said  another.  I  put 
them  by  and  went  on. 

When  I  came  to  the  meeting  Margaret  Thomas 
was  speaking;  and  when  she  had  done  I  stood  up.  I 
saw  a  concern  and  fear  upon  Friends  for  me;  but  the 
power  of  the  Lord,  in  which  I  declared,  soon  struck 
the  fear  out  of  them;  life  sprang,  and  a  glorious  heav- 
enly meeting  we  had. 

After  I  had  cleared  myself  of  what  was  upon  me 
from  the  Lord  to  the  meeting,  I  was  moved  to  pray; 
and  after  that  to  stand  up  again,  and  tell  Friends 
how  they  might  see  there  was  a  God  in  Israel  that 
could  deliver. 

A  very  large  meeting  this  was,  and  very  hot;  but 
Truth  was  over  all,  the  life  was  exalted,  which  car- 
ried through  all,  and  the  meeting  broke  up  in  peace. 
The  officers  and  soldiers  had  been  breaking  up  an- 
other meeting,  which  had  taken  up  their  time,  so 
that  our  meeting  was  ended  before  they  came.  But 
I  understood  afterwards  they  were  in  great  rage  be- 
cause they  had  missed  me;  for  they  were  heard  to  say 
one  to  another  before,  "  I'll  warrant  we  shall  have 
him;  "  but  the  Lord  prevented  them. 

I  went  from  the  meeting  to  Joan  Hily's,  where 
many  Friends  came  to  see  me,  rejoicing  and  blessing 
God  for  our  deliverance.  In  the  evening  I  had  a  fine 
fresh  meeting  among  Friends  at  a  Friend's  house 


394:         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

over  the  water,  where  we  were  much  refreshed  in  the 
Lord. 

From  Barnet  Hills  we  came  to  Swannington,  in 
Leicestershire,  where  William  Smith  and  some  other 
Friends  visited  me;  but  they  went  away  towards 
night,  leaving  me  at  a  Friend's  house  in  Swanning- 
ton. 

At  night,  as  I  was  sitting  in  the  hall  speaking  to 
a  widow  woman  and  her  daughter,  Lord  Beaumont 
came  with  a  company  of  soldiers,  who,  slapping  their 
swords  on  the  door,  rushed  into  the  house  with 
swords  and  pistols  in  their  hands,  crying,  "  Put  out 
the  candles  and  make  fast  the  doors."  Then  they 
seized  upon  the  Friends  in  the  house,  and  asked  if 
there  were  no  more  about  the  house.  The  Friends 
told  them  there  was  one  man  more  in  the  hall. 

There  being  some  Friends  out  of  Derbyshire,  one 
of  whom  was  named  Thomas  Fauks,  Lord  Beaumont, 
after  he  had  asked  all  their  names,  bid  his  man  set 
down  that  man's  name  as  Thomas  Fox.  The  Friend 
said,  Nay;  that  his  name  was  not  Fox,  but  Fauks.  In 
the  mean  time  some  of  the  soldiers  came,  and  fetched 
me  out  of  the  hall  to  him.  He  asked  my  name.  I 
told  him  my  name  was  George  Fox,  and  that  I  was 
well  known  by  that  name.  "  Aye,"  said  he,  "  you 
are  known  all  the  world  over."  I  said,  I  was  known 
for  no  hurt,  but  for  good. 

Then  he  put  his  hands  into  my  pockets  to  search 
them,  and  plucked  out  my  comb-case,  and  afterwards 
commanded  one  of  his  officers  to  search  further  for 
letters.  I  told  him  I  was  no  letter-carrier,  and  asked 
him  why  he  came  amongst  a  peaceable  people  with 


In  Prison  for  not  Swearing.  395 

swords  and  pistols  without  a  constable,  contrary  to 
the  king's  proclamation  and  to  the  late  act.  For  he 
could  not  say  there  was  a  meeting,  I  being  only  talk- 
ing with  a  poor  widow-woman  and  her  daughter. 

By  reasoning  thus  with  him,  he  came  somewhat 
down;  yet,  sending  for  the  constables,  he  gave  them 
charge  of  us  that  night,  and  told  them  to  bring  us 
before  him  next  morning.  Accordingly  the  consta- 
bles set  a  watch  of  the  townspeople  upon  us  that 
night,  and  had  us  next  morning  to  his  house,  about 
a  mile  from  Swannington. 

When  we  came  before  him,  he  told  us  that  we  had 
met  "  contrary  to  the  Act."  ^  I  desired  him  to  show 
us  the  Act.  "  Why,"  says  he,  "  you  have  it  in  your 
pocket."  I  told  him  he  did  not  find  us  in  a  meeting. 
Then  he  asked  whether  we  would  take  the  oaths  of 
allegiance  and  supremacy.  I  told  him  I  never  took 
any  oath  in  my  life,  nor  engagement,  nor  the  cov- 
enant. Yet  still  he  would  force  the  oath  upon  us. 
I  desired  him  to  show  us  the  oath,  that  we  might  see 
whether  we  were  the  persons  it  was  to  be  tendered 


^  This  was  an  act  passed  in  1668,  "  for  preventing 
mischiefs  and  dangers  that  may  arise  by  certain  persons 
called  Quakers,  and  others  refusing  to  take  oaths." 
The  act  declared  it  "  altogether  unlawful  and  contrary 
to  the  word  of  God  "  to  refuse  to  take  an  oath,  or  to 
persuade  another  person  to  refuse  to  do  so.  It  further 
made  it  an  offense  for  more  than  five  persons,  "  com- 
monly called  Quakers,"  "  to  assemble  in  any  place 
under  pretense  of  joining  in  a  religious  worship  not 
authorized  by  the  laws  of  this  realm." 


396         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


to,  and  whether  it  was  not  for  the  discovery  of  popish 
recusants.  At  length  he  bro>ight  a  little  book,  but 
we  called  for  the  statute-book.  He  would  not  show 
us  that,  but  caused  a  mittimus  to  be  made,  which 
mentioned  that  we  "  were  to  have  had  a  meeting." 
With  this  mittimus  he  delivered  us  to  the  constables 
to  convey  us  to  Leicester  jail. 

But  when  the  constables  had  brought  us  back  to 
Swannington,  it  being  harvest-time,  it  was  hard  to 
get  anybody  to  go  with  us.  The  people  were  loth  to 
take  their  neighbors  to  prison,  especially  in  such  a 
busy  time.  They  would  have  given  us  our  mittimus 
to  carry  ourselves  to  the  jail;  for  it  had  been  usual 
for  constables  to  give  Friends  their  own  mittimuses, 
and  they  have  gone  themselves  with  them  to  the 
jailer.  But  we  told  them  that,  though  our  Friends 
had  sometimes  done  so,  we  would  not  take  this  mitti- 
mus; but  some  of  them  should  go  with  us  to  the  jail. 

At  last  they  hired  a  poor  labouring  man,  who  was 
loth  to  go,  though  hired.  So  we  rode  to  Leicester, 
being  five  in  number;  some  carried  their  Bibles  open 
in  their  hands,  declaring  Truth  to  the  people  as  we 
rode  in  the  fields  and  through  the  towns,  and  telling 
them  we  were  prisoners  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
going  to  suffer  bonds  for  His  name  and  Truth. 
One  woman  Friend  carried  her  wheel  on  her  lap  to 
spin  on  in  prison;  and  the  people  were  mightily  af- 
fected. 

At  Leicester  we  went  to  an  inn.  The  master  of  the 
house  seemed  troubled  that  we  should  go  to  the 
prison;  and  being  himself  in  commission,  he  sent  for 
lawyers  in  the  town  to  advise  with,  and  would  have 


In  Prison  for  noi  Swearing.  397 


taken  up  the  mittimus,  kept  us  in  his  own  house,  and 
not  have  let  us  go  into  the  jail. 

But  I  told  Friends  it  would  be  a  great  charge  to  lie 
at  an  inn;  and  many  Friends  and  people  would  be 
coming  to  visit  us,  and  it  might  be  hard  for  him  to 
bear  our  having  meetings  in  his  house.  Besides,  we 
had  many  Friends  in  the  prison  already,  and  we  had 
rather  be  with  them.  So  v?e  let  the  man  know  that 
we  were  sensible  of  his  kindness,  and  to  prison  we 
went;  the  poor  man  that  brought  us  thither  deliver- 
ing both  the  mittimus  and  us  to  the  jailer. 

This  jailer  had  been  a  very  wicked,  cruel  man. 
Six  or  seven  Friends  being  in  prison  before  we  came, 
he  had  taken  some  occasion  to  quarrel  with  them, 
and  had  thrust  them  into  the  dungeon  amongst  the 
felons,  where  there  was  hardly  room  for  them  to  lie 
down.  We  stayed  all  that  5ay  in  the  prison-yard, 
and  desired  the  jailer  to  let  us  have  some  straw.  He 
surlily  answered,  "  You  do  not  look  like  men  that 
woidd  lie  on  straw." 

After  a  while  William  Smith,  a  Friend,  came  to 
me,  and  he  being  acquainted  in  the  house,  I  asked 
him  what  rooms  there  were  in  it,  and  what  rooms 
Friends  had  usually  been  put  into  before  they  were 
put  into  the  dungeon.  I  asked  him  also  whether  the 
jailer  or  his  wife  was  the  master.  He  said  that  the 
wife  was  master;  and  that,  though  she  was  lame,  and 
sat  mostly  in  her  chair,  being  only  able  to  go  on 
crutches,  yet  she  would  beat  her  husband  when  he 
came  within  her  reach  if  he  did  not  do  as  she  would 
have  him. 

I  considered  that  probably  many  Friends  might 


398         George  Fox:  An  Autohiography. 

come  to  visit  us,  and  that  if  wc  had  a  room  to  our- 
selves, it  would  be  better  for  them  to  speak  to  me, 
and  me  to  them,  as  there  should  be  occasion.  Where- 
fore I  desired  William  Smith  to  go  speak  with  the 
woman,  and  acquaint  her  that  if  she  would  let  us 
have  a  room,  suffer  our  Friends  to  come  out  of  the 
dungeon,  and  leave  it  to  us  to  give  her  what  we 
would,  it  might  be  better  for  her. 

He  went,  and  after  some  reasoning  with  her,  she 
consented;  and  we  were  put  into  a  room.  Then  we 
were  told  that  the  jailer  would  not  suffer  us  to  have 
any  drink  out  of  the  town  brought  into  the  prison, 
but  that  what  beer  we  drank  we  must  take  of  him. 
I  told  them  I  would  remedy  that,  for  we  would  get  a 
pail  of  water  and  a  little  wormwood  once  a  day,  and 
that  might  serve  us;  so  we  should  have  none  of  his 
beer,  and  the  water  he  could  not  deny  us. 

Before  we  came,  when  the  few  Friends  that  were 
prisoners  there  met  together  on  First-days,  if  any  of 
them  was  moved  to  pray  to  the  Lord,  the  jailer  would 
come  up  with  his  quarter-staff  in  his  hand,  and  his 
mastiff  dog  at  his  heels,  and  pluck  them  down  by  the 
hair  of  the  head,  and  strike  them  with  his  staff;  but 
when  he  struck  Friends,  the  mastiff  dog,  instead  of 
falling  upon  them,  would  take  the  staff  out  of  his 
hand. 

When  the  First-day  came,  I  spoke  to  one  of  my 
fellow-prisoners,  to  carry  a  stool  and  set  it  in  the 
yaxd,  and  give  notice  to  the  debtors  and  felons  that 
there  would  be  a  meeting  in  the  yard,  and  they  that 
would  hear  the  Word  of  the  Lord  declared  might 
come  thither.  So  the  debtors  and  prisoners  gathered 


In  Prison  for  not  Swearing.  399 

in  the  yard,  and  we  went  down,  and  had  a  very  pre- 
cious meeting,  the  jailer  not  meddling. 

Thus  every  First-day  we  had  a  meeting  as  long  as 
we  stayed  in  prison;  and  several  came  in  out  of  the 
town  and  country.  Many  were  convinced,  and  some 
there  received  the  Lord's  Truth  who  have  stood 
faithful  witnesses  for  it  ever  since. 

When  the  sessions  came  we  were  brought  before 
the  justices,  with  many  more  Friends,  sent  to  prison 
whilst  we  were  there,  to  the  number  of  about  twenty. 
The  jailer  put  us  into  the  place  where  the  thieves 
were  piit,  and  then  some  of  the  justices  began  to  ten- 
der the  oaths  of  allegiance  and  supremacy  to  us.  I 
told  them  I  never  took  any  oath  in  my  life ;  and  they 
knew  we  could  not  swear,  because  Christ  and  His 
Apostle  forbade  it;  therefore  they  but  put  it  as  a 
snare  to  us.  We  told  them  that  if  they  could  prove 
that,  after  Christ  and  the  Apostle  had  forbidden 
swearing,  they  did  ever  command  Christians  to 
swear,  then  we  would  take  these  oaths;  otherwise  we 
were  resolved  to  obey  Christ's  command  and  the 
Apostle's  exhortation. 

They  said  we  must  take  the  oath  that  we  might 
manifest  our  allegiance  to  the  king.  I  told  them 
I  had  been  formerly  sent  up  a  prisoner  by  Colonel 
Hacker,  from  that  town  to  London,  under  pretence 
that  I  had  held  meetings  to  plot  to  bring  in  King 
Charles.  I  also  desired  them  to  read  our  mittimus, 
which  set  forth  the  cause  of  our  commitment  to  be 
that  we  "  were  to  have  a  meeting  ";  and  I  said  Lord 
Beaumont  could  not  by  that  act  send  us  to  jail  unless 
we  had  been  taken  at  a  meeting,  and  found  to  be  such 


400         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

persons  as  the  act  speaks  of;  therefore  we  desired 
that  they  would  read  the  mittimus  and  see  how 
wrongfully  we  were  imprisoned. 

They  would  not  take  notice  of  the  mittimus,  but 
called  a  jury  and  indicted  i:s  for  refusing  to  take  the 
oaths  of  allegiance  and  supremacy.  When  the  jury 
was  sworn  and  instructed,  as  they  were  going  out, 
one  that  had  been  an  alderman  of  the  city  spoke  to 
them,  and  bade  them  "  have  a  good  conscience  ";  and 
one  of  the  jury,  being  a  peevish  man,  told  the  jus- 
tices there  was  one  affronted  the  jury;  whereupon 
they  called  him  up,  and  tendered  him  the  oath  also, 
and  he  took  it. 

While  we  were  standing  where  the  thieves  used  to 
stand,  a  cut-purse  had  his  hand  in  several  Friends' 
pockets.  Friends  declared  it  to  the  justices,  and 
showed  them  the  man.  They  called  him  up  before 
them,  and  upon  examination  he  could  not  deny  it; 
yet  they  set  him  at  liberty. 

It  was  not  long  before  the  jury  returned,  and 
brought  us  in  guilty;  and  after  some  words,  the  jus- 
tices whispered  together,  and  bid  the  jailer  take  us 
to  prison  again;  but  the  Lord's  power  was  over  them, 
and  His  everlasting  Truth,  which  we  declared  boldly 
amongst  them.  There  being  a  great  concourse  of 
people,  most  of  them  followed  us;  so  that  the  crier 
and  bailiffs  were  fain  to  call  the  people  back  again 
to  the  court. 

We  declared  the  Truth  as  we  went  along  the 
streets,  till  we  came  to  the  jail,  the  streets  being  full 
of  people. 

When  we  were  in  our  chamber  again,  after  some 


In  Prison  for  not  Swearing. 


401 


time  the  jailer  came  to  us  and  desired  all  to  go  forth 
that  were  not  prisoners.  When  they  were  gone  he 
said,  "  Gentlemen,  it  is  the  court's  pleasure  that  ye 
should  be  set  at  liberty,  except  those  that  are  in  for 
tithes;  and  you  know  there  are  fees  due  to  me;  but 
I  shall  leave  it  to  you  to  give  me  what  you  will." 

Thus  we  were  all  set  at  liberty  on  a  sudden,  and 
passed  every  one  into  our  services.  Leonard  Fell 
went  with  me  again  to  Swannington. 

I  had  a  letter  from  Lord  Hastings,  who,  hearing  of 
my  imprisonment,  had  written  from  London  to  the 
justices  of  the  sessions  to  set  me  at  liberty.  I  had 
not  delivered  this  letter  to  the  justices;  whether  any 
knowledge  of  his  mind  received  through  another 
hand  made  them  discharge  us  so  suddenly,  I  know 
not.  This  letter  I  carried  to  Lord  Beaumont,  who 
had  sent  us  to  prison.  When  he  had  broken  it  open 
and  read  it,  he  seemed  much  troubled;  but  at  last 
he  came  a  little  lower,  yet  threatened  us  that  if  we 
had  any  more  meetings  at  Swannington,  he  would 
break  them  up  and  send  us  to  prison  again. 

But,  notwithstanding  his  threats,  we  went  to 
Swannington,  and  had  a  meeting  with  Friends  there, 
and  he  neither  came  nor  sent  to  break  it  up. 

[After  travelling  through  Northamptonshire,  Bed- 
fordshire and  Warwickshire,  he  came  again  to  Lon- 
don.] 

I  stayed  not  long  in  London,  but  went  into  Es- 
sex, and  so  to  N'orfolk,  having  great  meetings.  At 
Norwich,  when  I  came  to  Captain  Lawrence's,  there 
was  a  great  threatening  of  disturbance;  but  the 


402         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

meeting  was  quiet.  Passing  thence  to  Sutton,  and 
into  Cambridgeshire,  I  heard  of  Edward  Burrough's 
decease.  Being  sensible  how  great  a  grief  and  exer- 
cise it  would  be  to  Friends  to  part  with  him,  I  wrote 
the  following  lines  for  the  staying  and  settling  of 
their  minds: 

"  Fkiends: 

"  Be  still  and  quiet  in  your  own  conditions,  and 
settled  in  the  Seed  of  God,  that  doth  not  change ;  that 
in  that  ye  may  feel  dear  Edward  Burrough  among 
you  in  the  Seed,  in  which  and  by  which  he  begat  you 
to  God,  with  whom  he  is;  and  that  in  the  Seed  ye  may 
all  see  and  feel  him,  in  which  is  the  unity  with  him 
in  the  life ;  and  so  enjoy  him  in  the  life  that  doth  not 
change,  which  is  invisible.  George  Fox."  * 

[Hereupon  extensive  travels  follow,  throughout  the 
eastern  counties,  then  through  the  southern  as  far  as 
Land's  End,  and  again  through  Wales  and  the  English 
Lake  district.  He  finally  reaches  Swarthmore  some 
time  in  1663,  and  finds  that  an  offer  of  twenty-five 
pounds  has  been  made  to  any  man  who  would  take  him. 


-  This  letter  well  illustrates  the  difficulties  of  George 
Fox's  style.  The  letter  manifests  a  profound  and  beau- 
tiful spirit,  but  the  phraseology  is  none  too  clear.  He 
means:  "Dear  Edward  is  living  in  God,  who  is  invisi- 
ble and  unchangeable;  settle  your  own  lives  down  into 
that  same  living  God  whose  divine  presence  mani- 
fested in  Edward  Burrough  has  begotten  a  spiritual  life 
in  you,  and  you  will  feel  yourselves  united  in  spirit 
and  life  with  the  dear  departed  one." 


In  Prison  for  not  Swearing.  403 


Out  of  the  experiences  of  this  long,  though  somewhat 
uneventful  trip  we  give  only  the  following  discussion, 
which  throws  good  light  on  Fox's  "  principle  of 
truth  ": 

"  Next  morning,  some  of  the  chief  of  the  town  *  de- 
sired to  speak  with  me,  amongst  whom  was  Colonel 
Rouse.  I  went,  and  had  a  great  deal  of  discourse  with 
them  concerning  the  things  of  God.  In  their  reasoning 
they  said,  '  The  gospel  was  the  four  books  of  Matthew, 
Mark,  Luke  and  John';  and  they  called  it  natural.  I 
told  them,  the  gospel  was  the  power  of  God,  which  was 
preached  before  Matthew,  Mark,  Luke  or  John  were 
written;  and  it  was  preached  to  every  creature,  of 
which  a  great  part  might  never  see  nor  hear  of  those 
four  books,  so  that  every  creature  was  to  obey  the 
power  of  God;  for  Christ,  the  Spiritual  Man,  would 
judge  the  world  according  to  the  gospel,  that  is,  accord- 
ing to  his  invisible  power.  When  they  heard  this,  they 
could  not  gainsay;  for  the  Truth  came  over  them.  I 
directed  them  to  their  Teacher,  the  grace  of  God,  and 
showed  them  the  sufficiency  of  it,  which  would  teach 
them  how  to  live,  and  what  to  deny;  and  being  obeyed 
would  bring  them  salvation.  So  to  that  grace  I  recom- 
mended them,  and  left  them."] 

I  came  over  the  sands  to  Swarthmore.  There  they 
told  me  that  Colonel  Kirby  had  sent  his  lieutenant, 
who  had  searched  trunks  and  chests  for  me. 

That  night,  as  I  was  in  bed,  I  was  moved  of  the 
Lord  to  go  next  day  to  Kirby  Hall,  which  was  Colonel 
Kirby's  house,  about  five  miles  oflF,  to  speak  with  him. 
When  I  came  thither  I  found  the  Flemings,  and  sev- 

*  Truro. 


404         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

eral  others  of  the  gentry  (so  called)  of  the  country, 
who  were  come  to  take  their  leave  of  Colonel  Barby, 
he  being  then  about  to  go  up  to  London  to  the  Parlia- 
ment. I  was  taken  into  the  parlour  amongst  them; 
but  Colonel  Kirby  was  not  then  within,  being  gone 
out  a  little  way.  They  said  little  to  me,  nor  I  much 
to  them. 

After  a  little  while  Colonel  Kirby  came  in,  and  I 
told  him  I  came  to  visit  him  (imderstanding  he  was 
desirous  to  see  me)  to  know  what  he  had  to  say  to  me, 
and  whether  he  had  anything  against  me. 

He  said,  before  all  the  company,  "  As  I  am  a  gen- 
tleman, I  have  nothing  against  you."  "  But,"  said 
he,  "  Mistress  Fell  must  not  keep  great  meetings  at 
her  house,  for  they  meet  contrary  to  the  Act." 

I  told  him  that  that  Act  did  not  take  hold  on  us, 
but  on  such  as  "  met  to  plot  and  contrive,  and  to  raise 
insurrections  against  the  King  ";  whereas  we  were  no 
such  people :  for  he  knew  that  they  that  met  at  Mar- 
garet Fell's  were  his  neighbours,  and  a  peaceable  peo- 
ple. 

After  many  words  had  passed,  he  shook  me  by  the 
hand,  and  said  again  that  he  had  nothing  against  me; 
and  others  of  them  said  I  was  a  deserving  man.  So 
we  parted,  and  I  returned  to  Swarthmore. 

Shortly  after,  when  Colonel  Kirby  was  gone  to 
London,  there  was  a  private  meeting  of  the  justices 
and  deputy-lieutenants  at  Houlker  Hall,  where  Jus- 
tice Preston  lived,  where  they  granted  a  warrant  to 
apprehend  me.  I  heard  over  night  both  of  their 
meeting  and  of  the  warrant,  and  could  have  gone  out 
of  their  reach  if  I  would,  for  I  had  not  appointed  any 


In  Prison  for  not  Swearing.  405 


meeting  at  that  time,  and  I  had  cleared  myself  of  the 
north,  and  the  Lord's  power  was  over  all.  But  I  con- 
sidered that  there  being  a  noise  of  a  plot  in  the  north, 
if  I  should  go  away  they  might  fall  upon  Friends; 
but  if  I  gave  myself  up  to  be  taken,  it  might  prevent 
them,  and  Friends  should  escape  the  better.  So  I 
gave  myself  up  to  be  taken,  and  prepared  for  their 
coming. 

Next  day  an  officer  came  with  his  sword  and  pis- 
tols to  take  me.  I  told  him  I  knew  his  errand  before, 
and  had  given  myself  to  be  taken;  for  if  I  would  have 
escaped  their  imprisonment  I  could  have  been  forty 
miles  off  before  he  came ;  but  I  was  an  innocent  man, 
and  so  it  mattered  not  what  they  could  do  to  me.  He 
asked  me  how  I  heard  of  it,  seeing  the  order  was 
made  privately  in  a  parlour.  I  said  it  was  no  matter 
for  that;  it  was  sufficient  that  I  heai'd  it. 

I  asked  him  to  let  me  see  his  order,  whereupon  he 
laid  his  hand  on  his  sword,  and  said  I  must  go  with 
him  before  the  lieutenant  to  answer  such  questions  as 
they  should  propound  to  me.  I  told  him  it  was  but 
civil  and  reasonable  for  him  to  let  me  see  his  order; 
but  he  would  not.   Then  said  I,  "  I  am  ready." 

So  I  went  along  with  him,  and  Margaret  Fell  ac- 
companied us  to  Houlkcr  Hall.  When  we  came 
thither  there  was  one  Rawlinson,  a  justice,  and  one 
called  Sir  George  Middleton,  and  many  more  that  I 
did  not  know,  besides  old  Justice  Preston,  who  lived 
there. 

They  brought  Thomas  Atkinson,  a  Friend,  of  Cart- 
mel,  as  a  witness  against  me  for  some  words  which  he 
had  told  to  one  Knipe,  who  had  informed  them, 


406         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

which  words  were  that  I  said  I  had  written  against 
the  plotters  and  had  knocked  them  down.  These 
words  they  could  not  make  much  of,  for  I  told  them 
I  had  heard  of  a  plot,  and  had  written  against  it. 

Old  Preston  asked  me  whether  I  had  an  hand  in 
that  script.  I  asked  him  what  he  meant.  He  said, 
"  in  the  Battledore  ?  "   I  answered,  "  Yes." 

Then  he  asked  me  whether  I  understood  languages. 
I  said,  "  Sufficient  for  myself,"  and  that  I  knew  no 
law  that  was  transgressed  by  it.  I  told  them  also 
that  to  understand  outward  languages  was  no  matter 
of  salvation,  for  the  many  tongues  began  but  at  the 
confusion  of  Babel;  and  if  I  did  understand  anything 
of  them,  I  judged  and  knocked  them  down  again  for 
any  matter  of  salvation  that  was  in  them. 

Thereupon  he  turned  away,  and  said,  "  George  Fox 
knocks  down  all  the  languages;  come,"  said  he,  "  we 
will  examine  you  of  higher  matters." 

Then  said  George  Middleton,  "  You  deny  God,  and 
the  Church,  and  the  faith." 

I  replied,  ^'  Nay,  I  own  God  and  the  true  Church, 
and  the  true  faith.  But  what  Church  dost  thou 
own  ?  "  said  I  (for  1  understood  he  was  a  Papist). 

Then  he  turned  again  and  said,  "  You  are  a  rebel 
and  a  traitor." 

I  asked  him  to  whom  he  spoke,  or  whom  did  he  call 
rebel.  He  was  so  full  of  envy  that  for  a  while  he 
could  not  speak,  but  at  last  he  said,  "  I  spoke  it  to 
you." 

With  that  I  struck  my  hand  on  the  table,  and  told 
him,  "  I  have  suffered  more  than  twenty  such  as 
thou;  more  than  any  that  is  here;  for  I  have  been  cast 


In  Prison  for  not  Swearing. 


407 


into  Derby  dungeon  for  six  months  together,  and 
have  suffered  much  because  I  would  not  take  up  arms 
against  this  King  before  Worcester  fight.  I  was  sent 
up  a  prisoner  out  of  my  own  country  by  Colonel 
Hacker  to  OHver  Cromw.^11,  as  a  plotter  to  bring  in 
King  Charles  in  the  year  1G54.  I  have  nothing  but 
love  and  good-will  to  the  King,  and  desire  the  eter- 
nal good  and  weKare  of  him  and  all  his  subjects." 

"  Did  you  ever  hear  the  like  ?  "  said  Middleton. 
"  Nay,"  said  I.  ^'  Ye  may  hear  it  again  if  ye  will. 
For  ye  talk  of  the  King,  a  company  of  you,  but  where 
were  ye  in  Oliver's  days,  and  what  did  ye  do  then  for 
him?  But  I  have  more  love  to  the  King  for  his 
eternal  good  and  welfare  than  any  of  you  have." 

Then  they  asked  me  whether  I  had  heard  of  the 
plot.    I  said,  ^'  Yes,  I  have  heard  of  it." 

They  asked  me  how  I  had  heard  of  it,  and  whom 
I  knew  in  it.  I  told  them  I  had  heard  of  it  through 
the  high-sheriff  of  Yorkshire,  who  had  told  Dr.  Hodg- 
son that  there  was  a  plot  in  the  north.  That  was  the 
way  I  had  heard  of  it ;  but  I  had  never  heard  of  any 
such  thing  in  the  south,  nor  till  I  came  into  the  north. 
As  for  knowing  any  in  the  plot,  I  was  as  a  child  in 
that,  for  I  knew  none  of  them. 

Then  said  they,  "  Why  would  you  write  against  it 
if  you  did  not  know  some  that  were  in  it  ? " 

I  said,  "My  reason  was,  because  you  are  so  for- 
ward to  crush  the  innocent  and  guilty  together; 
therefore  I  wrote  against  it  to  clear  the  Truth*  and  to 
stop  all  forward,  foolish  spirits  from  running  into 

*"  Truth"  is  used  here  and  often  in  Friends'  writings  for  the 
CAUSE  which  Friends  represented. 


408         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


such  things.  I  sent  copies  of  it  into  Westmoreland, 
Cumberland,  Durham,  and  Yorkshire,  and  to  you 
here.  I  sent  another  copy  of  it  to  the  King  and  his 
council,  and  it  is  likely  it  may  be  in  print  by  this 
time." 

One  of  them  said,    This  man  hath  great  power !  " 
I  said,  "  Yes,  I  have  power  to  write  against  plot- 
ters." 

Then  said  one  of  tbem,  "  You  are  against  the  laws 
of  the  land." 

I  answered,  "  Nay,  for  I  and  my  Friends  direct 
all  people  to  the  Spirit  of  God  in  them,  to  mortify 
the  deeds  of  the  flesh.  This  brings  them  into  well- 
doing, and  away  from  that  which  the  magistrate's 
sword  is  against,  which  eases  the  magistrates,  who  are 
for  the  punishment  of  evil-doers.  So  people  being 
turned  to  the  Spirit  of  God,  which  brings  them  to 
mortify  the  deeds  of  the  flesh ;  this  brings  them  from 
under  the  occasion  of  the  magistrate's  sword;  and  this 
must  needs  be  one  with  magistracy,  and  one  with  the 
law,  which  was  added  because  of  transgression,  and 
is  for  the  praise  of  them  that  do  well.  In  this  we 
establish  the  law,  are  an  ease  to  the  magistrates,  and 
are  not  against,  but  stand  for  all  good  government." 

Then  George  Middleton  cried,  "  Bring  the  book, 
and  put  the  oaths  of  allegiance  and  supremacy  to 
him." 

Now  he  himself  being  a  Papist,  I  asked  him 
whether  he,  who  was  a  swearer,  had  taken  the  oath  of 
supremacy.  As  for  us,  we  could  not  swear  at  all,  be- 
cause Christ  and  the  Apostle  had  forbidden  it. 

Some  of  them  would  not  have  had  the  oath  put  to 


In  Prison  for  not  Swearing. 


409 


me,  but  would  have  set  me  at  liberty.  The  rest  would 
not  agree  to  it,  for  this  was  their  last  snare,  and  they 
had  no  other  way  to  get  me  into  prison,  as  all  other 
things  had  been  cleared  to  them.  This  was  like  the 
Papists'  sacrament  of  the  altar,  by  which  they  en- 
snared the  martyrs.* 

So  they  tendered  mo  the  oath,  which  I  could  not 
take ;  whereupon  they  were  about  to  make  my  mitti- 
mus to  send  me  to  Lancaster  jail;  but  considering  of 
it,  they  only  engaged  me  to  appear  at  the  sessions, 
and  for  that  time  dismissed  me. 

I  went  back  with  Margaret  Fell  to  Swarthmore, 
and  soon  after  Colonel  West,  who  was  at  that  time  a 
justice  of  the  peace,  came  to  see  me.  He  told  us 
that  he  had  acquainted  some  of  the  rest  of  the  justices 
that  he  would  come  and  see  Margaret  Fell  and  me; 
"  bi;t  it  may  be,"  said  he,  "  some  of  you  will  take 
offence  at  it."  I  asked  him,  what  he  thought  they 
would  do  with  me  at  the  sessions  ?  He  said  they 
would  tender  the  oath  to  me  again. 

Whilst  I  was  at  Swarthmore,  William  Kirby  came 
into  Swarthmore  meeting,  and  brought  the  consta- 
bles with  him.  I  was  sitting  with  Friends  in  the 
meeting,  and  he  said  to  me,  "  How  now,  Mr.  Fox ! 
you  have  a  fine  company  here."  "  Yes,"  said  I,  "  we 
meet  to  wait  upon  the  Lord." 

So  he  began  to  take  the  names  of  Friends,  and 
those  that  did  not  readily  tell  him  their  names  he 

•''  Most  of  the  Quakers  who  suffered  in  prison  during 
the  reign  of  Charles  were  imprisoned  for  refusing  to 
take  the  oath. 


410         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

committed  to  the  constables'  hands,  and  sent  some  to 
prison.  The  constables  were  imwilling  to  take  them 
without  a  warrant,  whereupon  he  threatened  to  set 
them  by  the  heels;  but  the  constable  told  him  that 
he  could  keep  them  in  his  presence,  but  after  he  was 
gone  he  could  not  keep  them  without  a  Avarrant. 

The  sessions  coming  on,  I  Avcnt  to  Lancaster,  and 
appeared  according  to  my  engagement.  There  was 
upon  the  bench  Justice  Fleming,  who  had  bid  five 
pounds  in  Westmoreland  to  any  man  that  would  ap- 
prehend me,  for  he  was  a  justice  both  in  Westmore- 
land and  Lancashire.  There  were  also  Justice  Spen- 
cer, Colonel  West  and  old  Justice  Eawlinson,  the 
lawyer,  who  gave  the  charge,  and  was  very  sharp 
against  Truth  and  Friends;  but  the  Lord's  power 
stopped  them. 

The  session  Avas  large,  the  concourse  of  people 
great,  and  way  being  made  for  me,  I  came  up  to  the 
bar,  and  stood  with  my  hat  on,  they  looking  earnestly 
upon  me  and  I  upon  them  for  a  pretty  space. 

Proclamation  being  made  for  all  to  keep  silence 
upon  pain  of  imprisonment,  and  all  being  quiet,  I 
said  twice,  "  Peace  be  among  you." 

The  chairman  asked  if  I  knew  where  I  was.  I  said, 
"  Yes,  I  do;  but  it  may  be,"  said  I,  "  my  hat  ofFends 
you.  That's  a  low  thing;  that's  not  the  honour  that 
T  give  to  magistrates,  for  the  true  honour  is  from 
above;  Avhich,"  said  I,  "  I  have  received,  and  I  hope 
it  is  not  the  hat  Avhicli  ye  look  upon  to  be  the 
honour." 

The  chairman  said  they  looked  for  the  hat,  too, 
and  asked  wherein  I  shoAvcd  my  respect  to  magis- 


In  Prison  for  not  Swearing.  411 


trates  if  I  did  not  put  off  my  hat.  I  replied,  "  In 
coining  when  they  called  me."  Then  they  bade  one 
take  off  my  hat. 

After  this  it  was  some  time  before  they  spoke  to 
me,  and  I  felt  the  power  of  the  Lord  to  arise.  After 
some  pause  old  Justice  Rawlinson,  the  chairman, 
asked  me  if  I  knew  of  the  plot.  I  told  him  I  had 
heard  of  it  in  Yorkshire  by  a  Friend,  who  had  it 
from  the  high-sheriff.  They  asked  me  whether  I  had 
declared  it  to  the  magistrates.  I  said,  "  I  sent  papers 
abroad  against  plots  and  plotters,  and  also  to  you, 
as  soon  as  I  came  into  the  coimtry,  to  take  all  jeal- 
ousies out  of  your  minds  concerning  me  and  my 
friends;  for  it  is  our  principle  to  declare  against  such 
things." 

They  asked  me  if  I  knew  not  of  an  Act  against 
meeting.  I  said  I  knew  there  was  an  Act  that  took 
hold  of  such  as  met  to  the  terrifying  of  the  King's 
subjects,  were  enemies  to  the  King,  and  held  danger- 
ous principles;  but  I  hoped  they  did  not  look  upon  us 
to  be  such  men,  for  our  meetings  were  not  to  terrify 
the  King's  subjects,  neither  are  we  enemies  to  him  or 
any  man. 

Then  they  tendered  me  the  oaths  of  allegiance  and 
supremacy.  I  told  them  I  could  not  take  any  oath 
at  all,  because  Christ  and  His  Apostle  had  forbidden 
it;  and  they  had  sufficient  experience  of  swearers, 
first  one  way,  then  another;  but  I  had  never  taken 
any  oath  in  my  life. 

Then  Rawlinson  asked  me  whether  I  held  it  was 
unlawful  to  swear.  This  question  he  put  on  purpose 
to  ensnare  mej  for  by  an  Act  that  was  made  those 


412         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

were  liable  to  banishment  or  a  great  fine  that  should 
say  it  was  unlawful  to  swear.  But  I,  seeing  the 
snare,  avoided  it,  and  told  him  that  "  in  the  time  of 
the  law  amongst  the  Jews,  before  Christ  came,  the 
law  commanded  them  to  swear;  but  Christ,  who  doth 
fulfil  the  law  in  His  gospel-time,  commands  not  to 
swear  at  all ;  and  the  apostle  James  forbids  swearing, 
even  to  them  that  were  Jews,  and  had  the  law  of 
God." 

After  much  discourse,  they  called  for  the  jailer, 
and  committed  me  to  prison. 

I  had  about  me  the  paper  which  I  had  written  as  a 
testimony  against  plots,  which  I  desired  they  would 
read,  or  suffer  to  be  read,  in  open  court;  but  they 
would  not.  So,  being  committed  for  refusing  to 
swear,  I  bade  them  and  all  the  people  take  notice  that 
I  suffered  for  the  doctrine  of  Christ,  and  for  my 
obedience  to  His  command. 

Afterwards  I  imderstood  that  the  justices  said 
they  had  private  instructions  from  Colonel  Earby  to 
prosecute  me,  notwithstanding  his  fair  carriage  and 
seeming  kindness  to  me  before,  when  he  declared  be- 
fore many  of  them  that  he  had  nothing  against  me. 

Several  other  Friends  were  committed  to  prison, 
some  for  meeting  to  worship  God,  and  some  for 
not  swearing;  so  that  the  prison  was  very  full.  Many 
of  them  being  poor  men,  that  had  nothing  to  main- 
tain their  families  by  but  their  labour,  which  now 
they  were  taken  from,  the  wives  of  several  went  to 
the  justices  who  had  committed  their  husbands,  and 
told  them  that  if  they  kept  their  husbands  in  jail  for 
nothing  but  the  truth  of  Christ,  and  for  good  con- 


In  Prison  for  not  Swearing. 


413 


science'  sake,  they  would  bring  their  children  to  them 
to  be  maintained. 

A  mighty  power  of  the  Lord  rose  in  Friends,  and 
gave  them  great  boldness,  so  that  they  spoke  much 
to  the  justices.  Friends  also  that  were  prisoners 
wrote  to  the  justices,  laying  the  weight  of  their  suf- 
ferings upon  them,  and  showing  them  both  their  in- 
justice and  want  of  compassion  towards  their  poor 
neighbours,  whom  they  knew  to  be  honest,  conscien- 
tious, peaceable  people,  that  in  tenderness  of  con- 
science could  not  take  any  oath;  yet  they  sent  them  to 
prison  for  refusing  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance. 

Several  who  were  imprisoned  on  that  account  were 
known  to  be  men  that  had  served  the  King  in  his 
wars,  and  had  hazarded  their  lives  in  the  field  in  his 
cause,  and  had  suffered  great  hardships,  with  the  loss 
of  much  blood,  for  him,  and  had  always  stood  faithful 
to  him  from  first  to  last,  and  had  never  received  any 
pay  for  their  service.  To  be  thus  requited  for  all 
their  faithful  services  and  sufferings,  and  that  by 
them  that  pretended  to  be  the  King's  friends,  was 
hard,  unkind,  and  imgrateful  dealing. 

At  length  the  justices,  being  continually  attended 
with  complaints  of  grievances,  released  some  of  the 
Friends,  but  kept  divers  of  them  still  in  prison. 

I  was  kept  till  the  assize,  and  Judge  Turner  and 
Judge  Twisden  coming  that  circuit,  I  was  brought 
before  Judge  Twisden,  the  14th  of  the  month  called 
March,  the  latter  end  of  the  year  1GG3. 

When  I  was  brought  to  the  bar,  I  said,  "  Peace  be 
amongst  you  all."  The  Judge  looked  upon  me,  and 
said,     What !  do  you  come  into  the  court  with  your 


414         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


hat  on !  "  Upon  which  words,  the  jailer  taking  it  off, 
I  said,  "  The  hat  is  not  the  honour  that  comes  from 
God." 

Then  said  the  Judge  to  me,  "  Will  you  take  the 
oath  of  allegiance,  George  Fox  V  I  said,  "  I  never 
took  any  oath  in  my  life,  nor  any  covenant  or  engage- 
ment." "  Well,"  said  he,  "  will  you  swear  or  no  ?  " 
I  answered,  "  I  am  a  Christian,  and  Christ  commands 
me  not  to  swear;  so  does  the  apostle  James;  and 
whether  I  should  obey  God  or  man,  do  thou  judge." 

"  I  ask  you  again,"  said  he,  "  whether  you  will 
swear  or  no."  I  answered  again,  "  I  am  neither 
Turk,  Jew,  nor  heathen,  but  a  Christian,  and  should 
show  forth  Christianity." 

I  asked  him  if  he  did  not  know  that  Christians  in 
the  primitive  times,  under  the  ten  persecutions,  and 
some  also  of  the  martyrs  in  Queen  Mary's  days,  re- 
fused swearing,  because  Christ  and  the  apostle  had 
forbidden  it.  I  told  him  also  that  they  had  had  ex- 
perience enough,  how  many  had  first  sworn  for  the 
King  and  then  against  him.  "  But  as  for  me,"  I  said, 
"  I  have  never  taken  an  oath  in  my  life.  My  alle- 
giance doth  not  lie  in  swearing,  but  in  truth  and 
faithfulness,  for  I  honour  all  men,  much  more  the 
King.  But  Christ,  who  is  the  Great  Prophet,  the 
King  of  kings,  the  Saviour  and  Judge  of  the  whole 
world,  saith  I  must  not  swear.  Now,  must  I  obey 
Christ  or  thee  ?  For  it  is  because  of  tenderness  of 
conscience,  and  in  obedience  to  the  command  of 
Christ,  that  I  do  not  swear  and  we  have  the  word 
of  a  King  for  tender  consciences." 


In  Prison  for  not  Swearing. 


415 


Then  I  asked  the  Judge  if  he  did  own  the  King. 
"  Yes,"  said  he, I  do  own  the  King." 

"  Why,  then,"  said  I,  "dost  thou  not  observe  his 
declaration  from  Breda,  and  his  promises  made  since 
he  came  into  England,  that  no  man  should  be  called 
in  question  for  matters  of  religion  so  long  as  he  lived 
peaceably  ?  If  thou  ownest  the  King,"  said  I,  "  why 
dost  thou  call  me  in  question,  and  put  me  upon  tak- 
ing an  oath,  which  is  a  matter  of  religion;  seeing  that 
neither  thou  nor  any  one  else  can  charge  me  with  un- 
peaceable  living  ?  " 

Upon  this  he  was  moved,  and,  looking  ang-rily  at 
me,  said,  "  Sirrah,  will  you  swear  ?  " 

I  told  him  I  was  none  of  his  Sirrahs;  I  was  a 
Christian;  and  for  him,  an  old  man  and  a  judge,  to  sit 
there  and  give  nicknames  to  prisoners  did  not  be- 
come either  his  grey  hairs  or  his  oflSce." 

"  Well,"  said  he,"  "  I  am  a  Christian,  too." 

"  Then  do  Christian  works,"  said  I. 

"  Sirrah !  "  said  he,  "  thou  thinkest  to  frighten  me 
with  thy  words."  Then,  catching  himself,  and  look- 
ing aside,  he  said,  "  Hark !  I  am  using  the  word  sir- 
rah again ;  "  and  so  checked  himself. 

I  said,  "  I  spoke  to  thee  in  love ;  for  that  language 
did  not  become  thee,  a  judge.  Thou  oughtest  to  in- 
struct a  prisoner  in  the  law,  if  he  were  ignorant  and 
out  of  the  way." 

"  And  I  speak  in  love  to  thee,  too,"  said  he. 

"  But,"  said  I,  "  love  gives  no  nicknames." 

Then  he  roused  himself  up,  and  said,  "  I  will  not 
be  afraid  of  thee,  George  Fox;  thou  speakest  so  loud 
thy  voice  drowns  mine  and  the  court's;  I  must  call 


416         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


for  three  or  four  criers  to  drown  thy  voice ;  thou  hast 
good  lungs." 

"  I  am  a  prisoner  here,"  said  I,  "  for  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ's  sake;  for  His  sake  do  I  suffer;  for  Him 
do  I  stand  this  day.  If  my  voice  were  five  times 
louder,  I  should  lift  it  up  and  sound  it  for  Christ's 
sake.  I  stand  this  day  before  your  judgment-seat  in 
obedience  to  Christ,  who  commands  not  to  swear; 
before  whose  judgment-seat  you  must  all  be  brought 
and  must  give  an  account." 

"  Well,"  said  the  Judge,  "  George  Fox,  say 
whether  thou  wilt  take  the  oath,  yea  or  nay  ?  " 

I  replied,  "  I  say,  as  I  said  before,  judge  thou 
whether  I  ought  to  obey  God  or  man.  If  I  could  take 
any  oath  at  all  I  should  take  this.  I  do  not  deny 
some  oaths  only,  or  on  some  occasions,  but  all  oaths, 
according  to  Christ's  doctrine,  who  hath  commanded 
His  followers  not  to  swear  at  all.  Kow  if  thou,  or 
any  of  you,  or  your  ministers  or  priests  here,  will 
prove  that  ever  Christ  or  His  apostles,  after  they  had 
forbidden  all  swearing,  commanded  Christians  to 
swear,  then  I  will  swear." 

I  saw  several  priests  there,  but  not  one  of  them 
offered  to  speak. 

"  Then,"  said  the  Judge,  "  I  am  a  servant  to  the 
Eang,  and  the  King  sent  me  not  to  dispute  with  you, 
but  to  put  the  laws  in  execution;  therefore  tender 
him  the  oath  of  allegiance." 

"  If  thou  love  the  King,"  said  I,  "  why  dost  thou 
break  his  word,  and  not  keep  his  declarations  and 
speeches,  wherein  he  promised  liberty  to  tender  con- 


In  Prison  for  not  Swearing.  417 

sciences  ?  I  am  a  man  of  a  tender  conscience,  and,  in 
obedience  to  Christ's  command,  I  cannot  swear." 

"  Then  you  will  not  swear,"  said  the  Judge;  "  take 
him  away,  jailer." 

I  said,  "  It  is  for  Christ's  sake  that  I  cannot  swear, 
and  for  obedience  to  His  command  I  suffer;  and  so 
the  Lord  forgive  you  all." 

So  the  jailer  took  me  away;  but  I  felt  that  the 
mighty  power  of  the  Lord  was  over  them  all. 

The  sixteenth  day  of  the  same  month  I  was  again 
brought  before  Judge  Twisden.  He  was  somewhat 
offended  at  my  hat ;  but  it  being  the  last  moming  of 
the  assize  before  he  was  to  leave  town,  and  not  many 
people  there,  he  made  the  less  of  it. 

He  asked  me  whether  I  would  "  traverse,  stand 
mute,  or  submit."  But  he  spoke  so  fast  that  it  was 
hard  to  know  what  he  said.  However,  I  told  him  I 
desired  I  might  have  liberty  to  traverse  the  indict- 
ment, and  try  it. 

Then  said  he,  "  Take  him  away ;  I  will  have  noth- 
ing to  do  with  him;  take  him  away." 

I  said,  "  Well,  live  in  the  fear  of  God,  and  do  jus- 
tice." 

"  Why,"  said  he,  "  have  I  not  done  you  justice  ? " 

I  replied,  "  That  which  thou  hast  done  has  been 
against  the  command  of  Christ." 

So  I  was  taken  to  the  jail  again,  and  kept  prisoner 
till  the  next  assizes. 

Some  time  before  this  assize  Margaret  Fell  was 
sent  prisoner  to  Lancaster  jail  by  Fleming,  Iurby,and 
Preston,  justices;  and  at  the  assize  the  oath  was  ten- 


418         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

dered  to  her  also,  and  she  was  again  committed  to 
prison. 

In  the  Sixth  month,*  the  assizes  were  again  held 
at  Lancaster,  and  the  same  judges,  Twisden  and 
Tiimer,  again  came  that  circuit.  But  Judge  Turner 
then  sat  on  the  crown  bench,  and  so  I  was 
brought  before  him.  Before  I  was  called  to  the  bar 
I  was  put  among  the  murderers  and  felons  for  about 
two  hours,  the  people,  the  justices  and  also  the  Judge 
gazing  upon  me. 

After  they  had  tried  several  others,  they  called  me 
to  the  bar,  and  empanelled  a  jury.   Then  the  Judge 


*  This  would  be  August  of  our  calendar.  Again  the 
pen  was  busy  during  these  weeks  in  jail,  and  many 
epistles  and  documents  were  written.  A  Baptist 
preacher,  named  Wiggan,  who  had  been  a  great  oppo- 
nent of  Fox,  was  brought  into  straits  over  the  oath 
which  he  finally  took.  The  episode  furnishes  this  inter- 
esting entry: 

"  This  Wiggan  was  poor,  and  while  he  was  prisoner  at 
Lancaster  he  sent  into  the  country,  and  got  money 
gathered  for  relief  of  the  poor  people  of  God  in  prison; 
and  many  people  gave  freely,  thinking  it  had  been  for 
us,  when  indeed  it  was  for  himself.  But  when  we  heard 
of  it,  we  laid  it  upon  him,  and  wrote  into  the  country, 
that  Friends  might  let  the  people  know  the  truth  of  the 
matter,  that  it  was  not  our  manner  to  have  collections 
made  for  us,  and  that  those  collections  were  only  for 
Wiggan  and  another,  a  drunken  preacher  of  his 
society,  who  was  so  drunk,  that  once  he  lost  his 
breeches." 


In  Prison  for  not  Swearing. 


419 


asked  the  justices  whether  they  had  tendered  me  the 
oath  at  the  sessions.  They  said  that  they  had.  Then 
he  said,  "  Give  them  the  book,  that  they  may  swear 
they  tendered  him  the  oath  at  the  sessions."  They 
said  they  had.  Then  he  said,  "  Give  them  the  book, 
that  they  may  swear  they  tendered  him  the  oath  ac- 
cording to  the  indictment." 

Some  of  the  justices  refused  to  be  sworn;  but  the 
Judge  said  he  would  have  it  done,  to  take  away  all  oc- 
casion of  exception.  When  the  jury  were  sworn,  and 
the  justices  had  sworn  that  they  had  tendered  me  the 
oath  according  to  the  indictment,  the  Judge  asked  me 
whether  I  had  not  refused  the  oath  at  the  last  assizes. 
I  said,  "  I  never  took  an  oath  in  my  life,  and  Christ, 
the  Saviour  and  Judge  of  the  world,  said, '  Swear  not 
at  all.'  " 

The  Judge  seemed  not  to  take  notice  of  my  an- 
swer, but  asked  me  whether  or  not  I  had  refused  to 
take  the  oath  at  the  last  assizes. 

I  said,  "  The  words  that  I  then  spoke  to  them  were, 
that  if  they  could  prove,  either  judge,  justices,  priest, 
or  teacher,  that  after  Christ  and  the  Apostle  had  for- 
bidden swearing,  they  commanded  that  Christians 
should  swear,  I  would  swear." 

The  Judge  said  he  was  not  at  that  time  to  dispute 
whether  it  was  lawful  to  swear,  but  to  inquire 
whether  I  had  refused  to  take  the  oath. 

I  told  him,  "  Those  things  mentioned  in  the  oath, 
as  plotting  against  the  King,  and  owning  the  Pope's, 
or  any  other  foreign  power,  I  utterly  deny." 

"  Well,"  said  he,  "  you  say  well  in  that,  but  did 
you  refuse  to  take  the  oath  ?    What  say  you  ?  " 


420         George  Fox:  An  Autohiography. 

"What  wouldst  thou  have  me  to  say?"  said  I; 
"  I  have  told  thee  before  what  I  did  say." 

Then  he  asked  me  if  I  would  have  these  men  to 
swear  that  I  had  taken  the  oath.  I  asked  him  if  he 
would  have  those  men  to  swear  that  I  had  refused  the 
oath,  at  which  the  court  burst  into  laughter. 

I  was  grieved  to  see  so  much  lightness  in  a  court, 
where  such  solemn  matters  are  handled,  and  there- 
upon asked  them,  "  Is  this  court  a  play-house  ?  Where 
is  gravity  and  sobriety,"  said  I;  "  this  behaviour  doth 
not  become  you." 

Then  the  clerk  read  the  indictment,  and  I  told  the 
Judge  I  had  something  to  speak  to  it;  for  I  had  in- 
formed myself  of  the  errors  that  were  in  it.  He  told 
me  he  would  hear  afterwards  any  reasons  that  I  could 
allege  why  he  should  not  give  judgment. 

Then  I  spoke  to  the  jury,  and  told  them  that  they 
could  not  bring  me  in  guilty  according  to  that  indict- 
ment, for  the  indictment  was  wrong  laid,  and  had 
many  gross  errors  in  it. 

The  Judge  said  that  I  must  not  speak  to  the  jury, 
but  he  would  speak  to  them;  and  he  told  them  I  had 
refused  to  take  the  oath  at  the  last  assizes;  "and," 
said  he,  "  I  can  tender  the  oath  to  any  man  now,  and 
praemunire  him  for  not  taking  it;  "  and  he  said  they 
must  bring  me  in  guilty,  seeing  I  refused  to  take  the 
oath. 

Then  said  I,  "  What  do  ye  do  with  a  form?  Ye 
may  throw  away  your  form  then."  And  I  told  the 
jury  it  lay  upon  their  consciences,  as  they  would  an- 
swer it  to  the  Lord  God  before  His  judgment-seat. 


In  Prison  for  not  Swearing. 


421 


Then  the  judge  spoke  again  to  the  jury,  and  I 
called  to  him  to  "  do  me  justice." 

The  jury  brought  me  in  guilty.  Thereupon  I  told 
them  that  both  the  justices  and  they  had  forsworn 
themselves,  and  therefore  they  had  small  cause  to 
laugh,  as  they  did  a  little  before. 

Oh,  the  envy,  rage,  and  malice  that  appeared 
against  me,  and  the  lightness!  But  the  Lord  con- 
founded them,  and  they  were  wonderfully  stopped. 
So  they  set  me  aside,  and  called  up  Margaret  Fell, 
who  had  much  good  service  among  them;  and  then 
the  court  broke  up  near  the  second  hour. 

In  the  afternoon  we  were  brought  in  again  to  have 
sentence  passed  upon  us.  Margaret  Fell  desired  that 
sentence  might  be  deferred  until  the  next  morning. 
I  desired  nothing  but  law  and  justice  at  his  hands,  for 
the  thieves  had  mercy;  only  I  requested  the  Judge 
to  send  some  to  see  my  prison,  which  was  so  bad  they 
would  put  no  creature  they  had  in  it ;  and  I  told  him 
that  Colonel  Kirby,  who  was  then  on  the  bench,  had 
said  I  should  be  locked  up,  and  no  flesh  alive  should 
come  to  me.  The  Judge  shook  his  head,  and  said 
that  when  the  sentence  was  given  he  would  leave  me 
to  the  favor  of  the  jailer. 

Most  of  the  gentry  of  the  country  were  gathered 
together,  expecting  to  hear  the  sentence;  and  the 
noise  amongst  the  people  was  that  I  should  be  trans- 
ported. But  they  were  all  crossed  at  that  time;  for 
the  sentence  was  deferred  imtil  the  next  morning, 
and  I  was  taken  to  prison  again. 

Upon  my  complaining  of  the  badness  of  my  prison, 


422         Qeorge  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

some  of  the  justices,  with  Colonel  Kirby,  went  up  to 
see  it.  When  they  came  they  hardly  durst  go  in,  the 
floor  was  so  bad  and  dangerous,  and  the  place  so 
open  to  wind  and  rain.  Some  that  came  up  said, 
"  Surely  it  is  a  Jakes-house."  When  Colonel  Kirby 
saw  it,  and  heard  what  others  said  of  it,  he  excused 
the  matter  as  well  as  he  could,  saying  that  I  should 
be  removed  ere  long  to  some  more  convenient  place. 

Next  day,  towards  the  eleventh  hour,  we  were 
called  again  to  hear  the  sentence ;  and  Margaret  Fell, 
being  called  first  to  the  bar,  she  had  counsel  to  plead, 
who  found  many  errors  in  her  indictment.  There- 
upon, after  the  Judge  had  acknowledged  them,  she 
was  set  by. 

Then  the  J udge  asked  what  they  could  say  to  mine. 
I  was  not  willing  to  let  any  man  plead  for  me,  but 
desired  to  speak  to  it  myself;  and  indeed,  though 
Margaret  had  some  that  pleaded  for  her,  yet  she 
spoke  as  much  herself  as  she  would.  But  before  I 
came  to  the  bar  I  was  moved  in  my  spirit  to  pray  that 
God  would  confound  their  wickedness  and  envy,  set 
His  truth  over  all,  and  exalt  His  seed.  The  Lord 
heard,  and  answered,  and  did  confound  them  in  their 
proceedings  against  me.  And,  though  they  had  most 
envy  against  me,  yet  the  most  gross  errors  were 
found  in  my  indictment. 

I  having  put  by  others  from  pleading  for  me,  the 
Judge  asked  me  what  I  had  to  say  why  he  should  not 
pass  sentence  upon  me.  I  told  him  I  was  no  lawyer; 
but  I  had  much  to  say,  if  he  would  but  have  patience 
to  hear.   At  that  he  laughed,  and  others  laughed  also, 


In  Prison  for  not  Swearing. 


423 


and  said,  "  Come,  "what  have  you  to  say  ?  He  can  say 
nothing."  "  Yes,"  said  I,  I  have  much  to  say;  have 
but  the  patience  to  hear  me." 

I  asked  him  whether  the  oath  was  to  be  tendered 
to  the  King's  subjects,  or  to  the  subjects  of  foreign 
princes.  He  said,  "  To  the  subjects  of  this  realm." 
"  Then,"  said  I,  "  look  into  the  indictment ;  ye  may 
see  that  ye  have  left  out  the  word  '  subject ' ;  so  not 
having  named  me  ir.  the  indictment  as  a  subject,  ye 
cannot  prremunire  me  for  not  taking  an  oath." 

Then  they  looked  over  the  statute  and  the  indict- 
ment, and  saw  it  was  as  I  said;  and  the  Judge  con- 
fessed it  was  an  error. 

I  told  him  I  had  something  else  to  stop  his  judg- 
ment, and  desired  him  to  look  what  day  the  indict- 
ment said  the  oath  was  tendered  to  me  at  the  sessions 
there.  They  looked,  and  said  it  was  the  eleventh  day 
of  January.  "  What  day  of  the  week  was  the  ses- 
sions held  on  ?  "  said  I.  "  On  a  Tuesday,"  said  they. 
"  Then,"  said  I,  "  look  in  your  almanacs,  and  see 
whether  there  was  any  sessions  held  at  Lancaster  on 
the  eleventh  day  of  January,  so  called." 

So  they  looked,  and  found  that  the  eleventh  day 
was  the  day  called  Monday,  and  that  the  sessions  was 
on  the  day  called  Tuesday,  which  was  the  twelfth  day 
of  that  month. 

"  Look  now,"  said  T,  "  ye  have  indicted  me  for  re- 
fusing the  oath  in  the  quarter-sessions  held  at  Lan- 
caster on  the  eleventh  day  of  January  last,  and  the 
justices  have  sworn  that  they  tendered  me  the  oath 
in  open  sessions  here  that  day,  and  the  jury  upon 


424         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

their  oaths  have  found  me  guilty  thereupon;  and  yet 
ye  see  there  was  no  session  held  in  Lancaster  that 
day." 

Then  the  Judge,  to  cover  the  matter,  asked 
whether  the  sessions  did  not  begin  on  the  eleventh 
day.  But  some  in  the  court  answered,  "  No;  the  ses- 
sion held  but  one  day,  and  that  was  the  twelfth." 
Then  the  Judge  said  this  was  a  great  mistake  and  an 
error. 

Some  of  the  justices  were  in  a  great  rage  at  this, 
stamped,  and  said,  "  Who  hath  done  this  ?  Somebody 
hath  done  this  on  purpose;  "  and  a  great  heat  was 
amongst  them. 

Then  said  I,  "  Are  not  the  justices  here,  that  have 
sworn  to  this  indictment,  forsworn  men  in  the  face 
of  the  country  ?  But  this  is  not  all,"  said  I.  I  have 
more  yet  to  offer  why  sentence  should  not  be  given 
against  me."  I  asked,  "  In  what  year  of  the  King 
was  the  last  assize  here  holden,  which  was  in  the 
month  called  March  last  ?  "  The  Judge  said  it  was  in 
the  sixteenth  year  of  the  King.  "  But,"  said  I,  "  the 
indictment  says  it  was  in  the  fifteenth  year."  They 
looked,  and  found  it  so.  This  also  was  acknowledged 
to  be  another  error. 

Then  they  were  all  in  a  fret  again,  and  could  not 
tell  what  to  say;  for  the  Judge  had  sworn  the  oflBcers 
of  the  court  that  the  oath  was  tendered  to  me  at  the 
assize  mentioned  in  the  indictment.  "  ISTow,"  said  I, 
"  is  not  the  court  here  forsworn  also,  who  have  sworn 
that  the  oath  was  tendered  to  me  at  the  assize  holden 
here  in  the  fifteenth  year  of  the  King,  when  it  was 


In  Prison  for  not  Swearing. 


425 


in  his  sixteenth  year,  and  so  they  have  sworn  a  year 
false  ? " 

The  Judge  bade  them  look  whether  Margaret  Fell's 
indictment  was  so  or  no.  They  looked,  and  found  it 
was  not  so. 

I  told  the  Judge  I  had  more  yet  to  offer  to  stop 
sentence;  and  asked  him  whether  all  the  oath  ought 
to  be  put  into  the  indictment  or  no.  "  Yes,"  said  he, 
"  it  ought  to  be  all  put  in." 

"  Then,"  said  I,  "  compare  the  indictment  with  the 
oath,  and  there  thou  mayest  see  these  words:  viz.,  'or 
by  any  authority  derived,  or  pretended  to  be  derived 
from  him  or  his  see,'  which  is  a  principal  part  of  the 
oath,  left  out  of  the  indictment;  and  in  another  place 
the  words,  '  heirs  and  successors,'  are  left  out." 

The  Judge  acknowledged  these  also  to  be  great  er- 
rors. 

"  But,"  said  I,  "  I  have  something  further  to  al- 
lege." 

"  Nay,"  said  the  Judge,  "  I  have  enough;  you  need 
say  no  more." 

"  If,"  said  I,  "  thou  hast  enough,  I  desire  nothing 
but  law  and  justice  at  thy  hands ;  for  I  don't  look  for 
mercy." 

"  You  must  have  justice,"  said  he,  "  and  you  shall 
have  law." 

Then  I  asked,  "  Am  I  at  liberty,  and  free  from  all 
that  ever  hath  been  done  against  me  in  this  matter  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  the  Judge,  "  you  are  free  from  all 
that  hath  been  done  against  you.  But  then,"  starting 
up  in  a  rage,  he  said,  "  I  can  put  the  oath  to  any  man 
here,  and  I  will  tender  you  the  oath  again." 


426         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


I  told  him  he  had  had  examples  enoiagh  yesterday 
of  swearing  and  false  swearing,  both  in  the  justices 
and  in  the  jury;  for  I  saw  before  mine  eyes  that  both 
justices  and  jury  had  forsworn  themselves. 

The  Judge  asked  me  if  I  would  take  the  oath.  I 
bade  him  do  me  justice  for  my  false  imprisonment 
all  this  while ;  for  what  had  I  been  imprisoned  so  long 
for  ?  and  I  told  him  I  ought  to  be  set  at  liberty. 

"  You  are  at  liberty,"  said  he,  "  but  I  will  put  the 
oath  to  you  again." 

Then  I  turned  me  about  and  said,  "  All  people, 
take  notice;  this  is  a  snare;  for  I  ought  to  be  set  free 
from  the  jailer  and  from  this  court." 

But  the  Judge  cried,  "  Give  him  the  book;  "  and 
the  sheriff  and  the  justices  cried,  "  Give  him  the 
book." 

Then  the  power  of  darkness  rose  up  in  them  like  a 
mountain,  and  a  clerk  lifted  up  a  book  to  me.  I 
stood  still  and  said,  "  If  it  be  a  Bible,  give  it  me  into 
my  hand." 

"  Yes,  yes,"  said  the  J udge  and  justices,  "  give  it 
him  into  his  hand."  So  I  took  it  .  and  looked  into  it, 
and  said,  "  I  see  it  is  a  Bible;  I  am  glad  of  it." 

Now  he  had  caused  the  jury  to  be  called,  and  they 
stood  by;  for,  after  they  had  brought  in  their  former 
verdict,  he  would  not  dismiss  them,  though  they  de- 
sired it;  but  told  them  he  could  not  dismiss  them  yet, 
for  he  should  have  business  for  them,  and  therefore 
they  must  attend  and  be  ready  when  they  were 
called. 

When  he  said  so  I  felt  his  intent,  that  if  I  were 


In  Prison  for  not  Swearing.  427 

freed,  he  would  come  on  again.  So  I  looked  him  in 
the  face,  and  the  witness  of  God  started  up  in  him, 
and  made  him  blush  when  he  looked  at  me  again,  for 
he  saw  that  I  saw  him, 

^Nevertheless,  hardening  himself,  he  caused  the 
oath  to  be  read  to  me,  the  jury  standing  by;  and 
when  it  was  read,  he  asked  me  whether  I  would  take 
the  oath  or  not. 

Then  said  I,  "  Ye  have  given  me  a  book  here  to 
kiss  and  to  swear  on,  and  this  book  which  ye  have 
given  me  to  kiss  says,  '  Kiss  the  Son  ' ;  and  the  Son 
says  in  this  book,  '  Swear  not  at  all ' ;  and  so  says  also 
the  apostle  James.  Now,  I  say  as  the  book  says,  and 
yet  ye  imprison  me;  why  do  ye  not  imprison  the  book 
for  saying  so  ?  How  comes  it  that  the  book  (which 
bids  me  not  swear)  is  at  liberty  amongst  you,  and  yet 
ye  imprison  me  for  doing  as  the  book  bids  me  ?  " 

As  I  was  speaking  this  to  them,  and  held  up  the 
Bible  open  in  my  hand,  to  show  them  the  place  in 
the  book  where  Christ  forbids  swearing,  they  plucked 
the  book  out  of  my  hand  again;  and  the  Judge  said, 
"  N^ay,  but  we  will  imprison  George  Fox."  Yet  this 
got  abroad  over  all  the  country  as  a  by-word,  that 
"  they  gave  me  a  book  to  swear  on  that  commanded 
me  *  not  to  swear  at  all ' ;  and  that  the  Bible  was  at 
liberty,  and  I  in  prison  for  doing  as  the  Bible  said." 

'Now,  when  the  Judge  still  urged  me  to  swear,  I 
told  him  I  had  never  taken  oath,  covenant,  or  en- 
gagement in  my  life,  but  my  yea  or  nay  was  more 
binding  to  me  than  an  oath  was  to  many  others;  for 
had  they  not  had  experience  how  little  men  regarded 


428 


George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


an  oath;  and  how  they  had  sworn  one  way  and  then 
another;  and  how  the  justices  and  court  had  forsworn 
themselves  now  ?  I  told  him  I  was  a  man  of  a  tender 
conscience,  and  if  they  had  any  sense  of  a  tender 
conscience  they  would  consider  that  it  was  in  obedi- 
ence to  Christ's  command  that  I  could  not  swear. 
"  But,"  said  I,  "  if  any  of  you  can  convince  me  that 
after  Christ  and  the  apostle  had  commanded  not  to 
swear,  they  altered  that  command  and  commanded 
Christians  to  swear,  then  ye  shall  see  I  will  swear." 

There  being  many  priests  by,  I  said,  "  If  ye  cannot 
do  it,  let  your  priests  stand  up  and  do  it."  But  not 
one  of  the  priests  made  any  answer. 

"  Oh,"  said  the  Judge,  "  all  the  world  cannot  con- 
vince you." 

"  IS'o,"  said  I,  "  how  is  it  likely  the  world  should 
convince  me ;  for  '  the  whole  world  lies  in  wicked- 
ness ' ;  but  bring  out  your  spiritual  men,  as  ye  call 
them,  to  convince  me." 

Then  both  the  sheriff  and  the  Judge  said,  "  The 
angel  swore  in  the  Eevelations."  I  replied,  "  When 
God  bringeth  His  first-begotten  Son  into  the  world, 
He  saith,  *  Let  all  the  angels  of  God  worship  Him ' ; 
and  He  saith,  '  Swear  not  at  all.'  " 

"  Nay,"  said  the  Judge,  "  I  will  not  dispute." 

Then  I  spoke  to  the  jury,  telling  them  it  was  for 
Christ's  sake  that  I  could  not  swear,  and  therefore  I 
warned  them  not  to  act  contrary  to  the  witness  of 
God  in  their  consciences,  for  before  His  judgment- 
seat  they  must  all  be  brought.  And  I  told  them  that 
as  for  plots  and  persecution  for  religion  and  Popery, 


In  Prison  for  not  Swearing. 


429 


I  do  deny  them  in  my  heart;  for  I  am  a  Christian, 
and  shall  show  forth  Christianity  amongst  you  this 
day.  It  is  for  Christ's  doctrine  I  stand."  More 
words  I  had  both  with  the  Judge  and  jury  before  the 
jailer  took  me  away. 

In  the  afternoon  I  was  brought  up  again,  and  put 
among  the  thieves  some  time,  where  I  stood  with  my 
hat  on  till  the  jailer  took  it  off.  Then  the  jury  hav- 
ing found  this  new  indictment  against  me  for  not  tak- 
ing the  oath,  I  was  called  to  the  bar;  and  the  Judge 
asked  me  what  I  would  say  for  myself.  I  bade  them 
read  the  indictment,  for  I  would  not  answer  to  that 
which  I  did  not  hear.  The  clerk  read  it,  and  as  he 
read  the  Judge  said  Take  heed  it  be  not  false 
again  ";  but  he  read  it  in  such  a  manner  that  I  could 
hardly  understand  what  he  read. 

When  he  had  done  the  Judge  asked  me  what  I  said 
to  the  indictment.  I  told  him  that  hearing  but  once 
so  large  a  writing  read,  and  at  such  a  distance  that 
I  could  not  distinctly  hear  all  the  parts  of  it,  I  could 
not  well  tell  what  to  say  to  it ;  but  if  he  would  let  me 
have  a  copy,  and  give  me  time  to  consider  it,  I  would 
answer  it. 

This  put  them  to  a  little  stand;  but  after  a 
while  the  Judge  asked  me,  "  What  time  would  you 
have  ? " 

I  said,  "  Until  the  next  assize." 

"  But,"  said  he,  "  what  plea  will  you  now  make  ? 
Are  you  guilty  or  not  guilty  ?  " 

I  said,  "  I  am  not  guilty  at  all  of  obstinately  and 
wilfully  refusing  to  swear;  and  as  for  those  things 


430         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

mentioned  in  the  oath,  as  Jesuitical  plots  and  foreign 
powers,  I  utterly  deny  them  in  my  heart;  and  if  I 
could  take  any  oath,  I  should  take  that;  but  I  never 
took  any  oath  in  my  life." 

The  Judge  said,  "  You  speak  well;  but  the  King  is 
sworn,  the  Parliament  is  sworn,  I  am  sworn,  the  jus- 
tices are  sworn,  and  the  law  is  preserved  by  oaths." 

I  told  him  that  they  had  had  sufficient  experience 
of  men's  swearing,  and  he  had  seen  how  the  justices 
and  jury  had  sworn  falsely  the  other  day;  and  if  he 
had  read  in  the  "  Book  of  Martyrs  "  how  many  of 
the  martyrs  had  refused  to  swear,  both  within  the 
time  of  the  ten  persecutions  and  in  Bishop  Bonner's 
days,  he  might  see  that  to  deny  swearing  in  obedi- 
ence to  Christ's  command  was  no  new  thing. 

He  said  he  wished  the  laws  were  otherwise. 

I  said,  "  Our  Yea  is  yea,  and  our  ISTay  is  nay;  and 
if  we  transgress  our  yea  and  our  nay,  let  us  suffer  as 
they  do,  or  should  do,  that  swear  falsely."  This,  I 
told  him,  we  had  oifered  to  the  King;  and  the  King 
said  it  was  reasonable. 

After  some  further  discourse  they  committed  me 
to  prison  again,  there  to  lie  until  the  next  assize ;  and 
Colonel  Kirby  gave  order  to  the  jailer  to  keep  me 
close,  "  and  suffer  no  flesh  alive  to  come  at  me,"  for 
I  was  not  fit,  he  said,  "  to  be  discoursed  with  by  men." 
I  was  put  into  a  tower  where  the  smoke  of  the  other 
prisoners  came  up  so  thick  it  stood  as  dew  upon  the 
walls,  and  sometimes  it  was  so  thick  that  I  could 
hardly  see  the  candle  when  it  burned;  and  I  being 
locked  under  three  locks,  the  under-jailer,  when  the 
smoke  was  great,  would  hardly  be  persuaded  to  come 


In  Prison  for  not  Swearing.  431 


up  to  unlock  one  of  the  uppermost  doors  for  fear  of 
the  smoke,  so  that  I  was  almost  smothered. 

Besides,  it  rained  in  upon  my  bed,  and  many  times, 
when  I  went  to  stop  out  the  rain  in  the  cold  winter- 
season,  my  shirt  was  as  wet  as  muck  with  the  rain 
that  came  in  upon  me  while  I  was  labouring  to  stop 
it  out.  And  the  place  being  high  and  open  to  the 
wind,  sometimes  as  fast  as  I  stopped  it  the  wind  blew 
it  out  again. 

In  this  manner  I  lay  all  that  long,  cold  winter  till 
the  next  assize,  in  which  time  I  was  so  starved,  and 
so  frozen  with  cold  and  wet  with  the  rain  that  my 
body  was  greatly  swelled  and  my  limbs  much  be- 
numbed. 

The  assize  began  the  sixteenth  of  the  month  called 
March,  1664-5.  The  same  Judges,  Twisden  and 
Turner,  coming  that  circuit  again.  Judge  Twisden  sat 
this  time  on  the  crown-bench,  and  before  him  I  was 
brought. 

I  had  informed  myself  of  the  errors  in  this  indict- 
ment also;  for,  though  at  the  assize  before  Judge 
Turner  said  to  the  officers  in  court,  "  Pray,  see  that 
all  the  oath  be  in  the  indictment,  and  that  the  word 
'  subject '  be  in,  and  that  the  day  of  the  month  and 
year  of  the  King  be  put  in  right;  for  it  is  a  shame 
that  so  many  errors  should  be  seen  and  found  in  th*j 
face  of  the  country;  "  yet  many  errors,  and  those 
great  ones,  were  in  this  indictment,  as  well  as  in 
the  former.  Surely  the  hand  of  the  Lord  was  in  it, 
to  confound  their  mischievous  work  against  me,  and 
to  blind  them  therein ;  insomuch  that,  although,  after 
the  indictment  was  drawn  at  the  former  assize,  the 


432         George  Fox:  An  Autohiograpliy. 

Judge  examined  it  himself,  and  tried  it  with  the 
clerks,  yet  the  word  "  subject  "  was  left  out  of  this 
indictment  also,  the  day  of  the  month  was  put  in 
wrong,  and  several  material  words  of  the  oath  were 
left  out;  yet  they  went  on  confidently  against  me, 
thinking  all  was  safe  and  well. 

When  I  was  brought  to  the  bar,  and  the  jury 
called  over  to  be  sworn,  the  clerk  asked  me,  first, 
whether  I  had  any  objection  to  make  to  any  of  the 
jury.  I  told  him  I  knew  none  of  them.  Then,  hav- 
ing sworn  the  jury,  they  swore  three  of  the  officers 
of  the  court  to  prove  that  the  oath  was  tendered  to 
me  at  the  last  assizes,  according  to  the  indictment. 

"  Come,  come,"  said  the  Judge,  "  it  was  not  done 
in  a  corner."  Then  he  asked  me  what  I  had  to  say  to 
it;  or  whether  I  had  taken  the  oath  at  the  last  assize. 

I  told  him  what  I  had  formerly  said  to  them,  as  it 
now  came  to  my  remembrance. 

Thereupon  the  Judge  said,  "  I  will  not  dispute 
with  you  but  in  point  of  law," 

"  Then,"  said  I,  "  I  have  something  to  speak  to 
the  jury  concerning  the  indictment." 

He  told  me  I  must  not  speak  to  the  jury;  but  if  I 
had  anything  to  say,  I  must  speak  to  him. 

I  asked  him  Avhether  the  oath  was  to  be  tendered 
to  the  King's  subjects  only,  or  to  the  subjects  of  for 
eign  princes. 

He  replied,  "  To  the  subjects  of  this  realm." 

"  Then,"  said  I,  "  look  in  the  indictment,  and  thou 
mayest  see  the  word  '  subject '  is  left  out  of  this  in- 
dictment also-    Therefore,  seeing  the  oath,  is  not  tc 


In  Prison  for  not  Swearing. 


433 


be  tendered  to  any  but  the  subjects  of  this  realm,  and 
ye  have  not  put  me  in  as  a  subject,  the  court  is  to 
take  no  notice  of  this  indictment." 

I  had  no  sooner  spoken  thus  than  the  Judge  cried, 
"  Take  him  away,  jailer,  take  him  away."  So  I  was 
presently  hurried  away. 

The  jailer  and  people  expected  that  I  should  be 
called  for  again;  but  I  was  never  brought  to  the 
court  any  more,  though  I  had  many  other  great  er- 
rors to  assign  in  the  indictment. 

After  I  was  gone,  the  Judge  asked  the  jury  if  they 
were  agreed.  They  said,  "  Yes,"  and  found  for  the 
King  against  me,  as  I  was  told.  But  I  was  never 
called  to  hear  sentence  given,  nor  was  any  given 
against  me  that  I  could  hear  of. 

I  understood  that  when  they  had  looked  more  nar- 
rowly into  the  indictment  they  saw  it  was  not  good ; 
and  the  Judge  having  sworn  the  officers  of  the  court 
that  the  oath  was  tendered  me  at  the  assize  before, 
such  a  day,  as  was  set  forth  in  the  indictment,  and 
that  being  the  wrong  day,  I  should  have  proved  the 
officers  of  the  court  forsworn  men  again,  had  the 
Judge  suffered  me  to  plead  to  the  indictment,  which 
was  thought  to  be  the  reason  he  hurried  me  away  so 
soon. 

The  Judge  had  passed  sentence  of  praemunire 
upon  Margaret  Fell  before  I  was  brought  in;  and  it 
seems  that  when  I  was  hurried  away  they  recorded 
me  as  a  prsemunired  person,*^  though  I  was  nev«r 


' "  A  prfpmunired  person  "  is  one  who  has  incurred 
the  penalty  of  being  put  out  of  the  protection  of  the 


434         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

brought  to  hear  the  sentence,  or  knew  of  it,  which 
was  very  illegal.  For  they  should  not  only  have  had 
me  present  to  hear  the  sentence  given,  but  should 
also  have  asked  me  first  what  I  could  say  why  sen- 
tence should  not  be  given  against  me.  But  they 
knew  I  had  so  much  to  say  that  they  could  not  give 
sentence  if  they  heard  it. 

While  I  was  prisoner  in  Lancaster  Castle  there 
was  a  great  noise  and  talk  of  the  Turk's  overspread- 
ing Christendom,  and  great  fears  entered  many.  But 
one  day,  as  I  was  walking  in  my  prison  chamber,  I 
saw  the  Lord's  power  turn  against  him,  and  that  he 
was  turning  back  again.  And  I  declared  to  some 
what  the  Lord  had  let  me  see,  when  there  were  such 
fears  of  his  overrunning  Christendom;  and  within 
a  month  after,  the  news  came  that  they  had  given 
him  a  defeat. 

Another  time,  as  I  was  walking  in  my  chamber, 
with  my  eye  to  the  Lord,  I  saw  the  angel  of  the  Lord 
with  a  glittering  drawn  sword  stretched  southward, 
as  though  the  court  had  been  all  on  fire.  Not  long 
after  the  wars  broke  out  with  Holland,  the  sickness 
broke  forth,  and  afterwards  the  fire  of  London;  so 
the  Lord's  sword  was  drawn  indeed. 

By  reason  of  my  long  and  close  imprisonment  in 
so  bad  a  place  I  was  become  very  weak  in  body;  but 
the  Lord's  power  was  over  all,  supported  me  through 
all,  and  enabled  me  to  do  service  for  Him,  and  for 


crown,  of  having  his  lands,  goods  and  chattels  for- 
feited to  the  crown  and  of  remaining  in  prison  during 
the  sovereign's  pleasure. 


In  Prison  for  not  Swearing. 


435 


His  truth  and  people,  as  the  place  would  admit.  For, 
while  I  was  in  Lancaster  prison,  I  answered  several 
books,  as  the  Mass,  the  Common-Prayer,  the  Direc- 
tory and  the  Church-Faith,*'  which  are  the  four  chief 
religions  that  are  got  up  since  the  apostles'  days. 


*  These  "  four  chief  religions  which  have  been  got  up 
since  the  apostles'  days  "  are  respectively  the  Roman 
Catholic,  the  Episcopalian,  Presbyterian  and  Independ- 
ent, i.  e.,  Congregational. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


^  ^ear  in  Scarborougij  Castle, 

1665-1666. 

After  the  assize,  Colonel  Kirby  and  other  justices 
were  very  uneasy  with  my  being  at  Lancaster;  for  I 
had  galled  them  sore  at  my  trials  there,  and  they  la- 
boured much  to  get  me  removed  thence  to  some  re- 
mote place.  Colonel  Kirby  sometimes  threatened 
that  I  should  be  sent  beyond  sea. 

About  six  weeks  after  the  assizes  they  got  an  or- 
der from  the  King  and  council  to  remove  me  from 
Lancaster;  and  with  it  they  brought  a  letter  from  the 
Earl  of  Anglesey,  wherein  it  was  written  that  if  those 
things  with  which  I  was  charged  were  found  true 
against  me,  I  deserved  no  clemency  nor  mercy;  yet 
the  greatest  matter  they  had  against  me  was  because 
I  could  not  disobey  the  command  of  Christ,  and 
swear. 

When  they  had  prepared  for  my  removal,  the  un- 
der-sheriff and  the  head-sheriff's  man,  with  some  bail- 
iffs, fetched  me  out  of  the  castle,  when  I  was  so  weak 
with  lying  in  that  cold,  wet,  and  smoky  prison,  that 
I  could  hardly  go  or  stand.  They  led  me  into  the 
jailer's  house,  where  were  William  Kirby  and  several 
others,  and  they  called  for  wine  to  give  me.  I  told 
them  I  would  have  none  of  their  wine.  Then  they 
cried,  "  Bring  out  the  horses." 

I  desired  them  first  to  show  me  their  order,  or  a 


A  Year  in  Scarborough  Castle.  437 

copy  of  it,  if  they  intended  to  remove  me;  but  they 
would  show  me  none  but  their  swords.  I  told  them 
there  was  no  sentence  passed  upon  me,  nor  was  I 
praemunired,  that  I  knew  of ;  and  therefore  I  was  not 
made  the  King's  prisoner,  but  was  the  sheriff's;  for 
they  and  all  the  country  knew  that  I  was  not  fully 
heard  at  the  last  assize,  nor  suffered  to  show  the  er- 
rors in  the  indictment,  which  were  sufficient  to  quash 
it,  though  they  had  kept  me  from  one  assize  to  an- 
other to  the  end  they  might  try  me.  But  they  all 
knew  there  was  no  sentence  of  praemunire  passed 
upon  me ;  therefore  I,  not  being  the  King's  prisoner, 
but  the  sheriff's,  did  desire  to  see  their  order. 

Instead  of  showing  me  their  order,  they  haled  me 
out,  and  lifted  me  upon  one  of  the  sheriff's  horses. 

When  I  was  on  horseback  in  the  street  the  towns- 
people being  gathered  to  gaze  upon  me,  I  told  the 
officers  I  had  received  neither  Christianity,  civility, 
nor  humanity  from  them. 

They  hurried  me  away  about  fourteen  miles  to 
Bentham,  though  I  was  so  weak  that  I  was  hardly 
able  to  sit  on  horseback,  and  my  clothes  smelt  so  of 
smoke  they  were  loathsome  to  myself.  The  vncked 
jailer,  one  Hunter,  a  young  fellow,  would  come  be- 
hind and  give  the  horse  a  lash  with  his  whip,  and 
make  him  skip  and  leap;  so  that  I,  being  weak,  had 
much  ado  to  sit  on  him;  then  he  would  come  and  look 
me  in  the  face  and  say,  "  How  do  you,  Mr.  Fox  ?  "  I 
told  him  it  was  not  civil  in  him  to  do  so.  The  Lord 
cut  him  off  soon  after. 

When  we  were  come  to  Bentham,  in  Yorkshire, 
there  met  us  many  troopers  and  a  marshal;  and  many 


438         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


of  the  gentry  of  the  country  were  come  in,  and 
abundance  of  people  to  take  a  view  of  me.  I  being 
very  weak  and  weary,  desired  them  to  let  me  lie  down 
on  a  bed,  which  the  soldiers  permitted;  for  those  that 
brought  me  thither  gave  their  order  to  the  marshal, 
and  he  set  a  guard  of  his  soldiers  upon  me. 

When  they  had  stayed  awhile  they  pressed  horses, 
raised  the  bailiff  of  the  hundred,  the  constables,  and 
others,  and  bore  me  to  Giggleswick  that  night;  but 
exceeding  weak  I  was.  There,  with  their  clog  shoes, 
they  raised  the  constables,  who  sat  drinking  all  the 
night  in  the  room  by  me,  so  that  I  could  not  get  much 
rest. 

The  next  day  we  came  to  a  market-town,  where 
several  Friends  came  to  see  me.  Robert  Widders  and 
divers  Friends  came  to  me  upon  the  road. 

The  next  night  I  asked  the  soldiers  whither  they 
intended  to  carry  me,  and  whither  I  was  to  be  sent. 
Some  of  them  said,  "Beyond  sea";  others  said, 
"  To  T\Tiemouth  Castle."  A  great  fear  there  was 
amongst  them  lest  some  one  should  rescue  me  out 
of  their  hands;  but  that  fear  was  needless. 

'Next  night  we  came  to  York,  where  the  marshal 
put  me  into  a  great  chamber,  where  most  part  of  two 
troops  came  to  see  me.  One  of  these  troopers,  an  en- 
vious man,  hearing  that  I  was  prpemunired,  asked  me 
what  estate  I  had,  and  whether  it  was  copyhold  or 
free  land.  I  took  no  notice  of  his  question,  but  was 
moved  to  declare  the  Word  of  life  to  the  soldiers, 
and  many  of  them  were  very  loving. 

At  night  the  Lord  Frecheville  (so  called),  who 
commanded  these  horse,  came  to  me,  and  was  very 


A  Tear  in  Scarborough  Castle.  439 


civil  and  loving.  I  gave  him  an  account  of  my  im- 
prisonment, and  declared  many  things  to  him  relat- 
ing to  Truth. 

They  kept  me  at  York  two  days,  and  then  the  mar- 
shal and  four  or  five  soldiers  were  sent  to  convey  me 
to  Scarborough  Castle.  These  were  very  civil  men, 
and  they  carried  themselves  civilly  and  lovingly  to 
me.  On  the  way  we  baited  at  Malton,  and  they  per- 
mitted Friends  to  come  and  visit  me. 

When  we  were  come  to  Scarborough,  they  took  me 
to  an  inn,  and  gave  notice  to  the  governor,  who  sent 
six  soldiers  to  be  my  guard  that  night.  !N"ext  day  they 
conducted  me  into  the  castle,  put  me  into  a  room, 
and  set  a  sentry  on  me.  As  I  was  very  weak,  and 
subject  to  fainting,  they  sometimes  let  me  go  out  into 
the  air  with  the  sentry. 

They  soon  removed  me  out  of  this  room,  and  put 
me  into  an  open  one,  where  the  rain  came  in,  and 
which  was  exceedingly  thick  with  smoke,  which  was 
very  offensive  to  me.^ 

One  day  the  Governor,  Sir  John  Crossland,  came 
to  see  me,  and  brought  with  him  Sir  Francis  Cobb.  I 
desired  the  Governor  to  go  into  my  room,  and  see 

^  Scarborough  Castle  is  so  nearly  demolished  that  it 
is  now  impossible  to  locate  the  rooms  in  which  Fox  was 
confined.  The  room  in  which  he  was  finally  quartered 
was  on  the  extreme  seaside  of  the  castle  and  has  been 
entirely  destroyed.  This  year  of  fearful  imprisonment 
following  the  severe  confinement  at  Lancaster  nearly 
broke  down  his  wonderful  constitution.  He  never  again 
had  the  same  physical  vigor  and  power.  Note  his 
healthy  humor  in  the  little  joke  with  the  Papist. 


440         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

what  a  place  I  had.  I  had  got  a  little  fire  made  in 
it,  and  it  was  so  filled  with  smoke  that  when  they 
were  in  they  could  hardly  find  their  way  out  again; 
and  he  being  a  Papist,  I  told  him  that  this  was  his 
Purgatory  which  they  had  put  me  into.  I  was  forced 
to  lay  out  about  fifty  shillings  to  stop  out  the  rain, 
and  keep  the  room  from  smoking  so  much. 

When  I  had  been  at  that  charge,  and  made  it  toler- 
able, they  removed  me  into  a  worse  room,  where  I 
had  neither  chimney  nor  fire-hearth.  This  being 
towards  the  sea-side  and  lying  much  open,  the  wind 
drove  in  the  rain  forcibly  so  that  the  water  came 
over  my  bed,  and  ran  so  about  the  room  that  I  was 
fain  to  skim  it  up  with  a  platter.  When  my  clothes 
were  wet,  I  had  no  fire  to  dry  them;  so  that  my  body 
was  benumbed  with  cold,  and  my  fingers  swelled  so 
that  one  was  grown  as  big  as  two. 

Though  I  was  at  some  charge  in  this  room  also,  I 
could  not  keep  out  the  wind  and  rain.  Besides,  they 
would  suffer  few  Friends  to  come  to  me,  and  many 
times  not  any;  no,  not  so  much  as  to  bring  me  a  little 
food;  but  I  was  forced  for  the  first  quarter  to  hire 
one  of  another  society  to  bring  me  necessaries. 
Sometimes  the  soldiers  would  take  it  from  her,  and 
she  would  scuffle  with  them  for  it. 

Afterwards  I  hired  a  soldier  to  fetch  me  water  and 
bread,  and  something  to  make  a  fire  of,  when  I  was  in 
a  room  where  a  fire  could  be  made.  Commonly  a 
threepenny  loaf  served  me  three  weeks,  and  some- 
times longer,  and  most  of  my  drink  was  water  with 
wormwood  steeped  or  bruised  in  it. 

One  time  the  weather  was  very  sharp,  and  I  had 


A  Year  in  Scarborough  Castle.  441 


taken  great  cold,  I  got  a  little  elecampane  beer.  I 
heard  one  of  the  soldiers  say  to  the  other  that  they 
would  play  me  a  trick:  they  would  send  me  up  to  the 
deputy-governor,  and  in  the  meantime  drink  my 
strong  beer ;  and  so  they  did.  When  I  came  back  one 
of  the  soldiers  came  to  me  in  a  jeer,  and  asked  me  for 
some  strong  beer.  I  told  him  they  had  played  their 
pretty  trick;  and  so  I  took  no  further  notice  of  it. 

But  inasmuch  as  they  kept  me  so  very  strait,  not 
giving  liberty  for  Friends  to  come  to  me,  I  spoke  to 
the  keepers  of  the  Castle  to  this  effect:  I  did  not 
know  till  I  was  removed  from  Lancaster  Castle,  and 
brought  prisoner  to  this  Castle  of  Scarborough,  that  I 
was  convicted  of  a  prsemunire ;  for  the  Judge  did  not 
give  sentence  upon  me  at  the  assizes  in  open  court. 
But  seeing  I  am  now  a  prisoner  here,  if  I  may  not 
have  my  liberty,  let  my  friends  and  acquaintances 
have  their  liberty  to  come  and  visit  me,  as  Paul's 
friends  had  among  the  Romans,  who  were  not  Chris- 
tians, but  heathen.  For  Paul's  friends  had  their 
liberty;  all  that  would,  might  come  to  him,  and  he 
had  his  liberty  to  preach  to  them  in  his  hired  house. 
But  I  cannot  have  liberty  to  go  into  the  town,  nor 
for  my  friends  to  come  to  me  here.  So  you  that  go 
under  the  name  of  Christians,  are  worse  in  this 
respect  than  those  heathen  were." 

But  though  they  would  not  let  Friends  come  to 
me,  they  would  often  bring  others,  either  to  gaze 
upon  me,  or  to  contend  with  me.  One  time  a  great 
company  of  Papists  came  to  discourse  with  me.  They 
affirmed  that  the  Pope  was  infallible,  and  had  stood 
infallible  ever  since  Peter's  time.    But  I  showed 


442         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

them  the  contrary  by  history;  for  one  of  the  bishops 
of  Eome  (Marcellinus  by  name),  denied  the  faith  and 
sacrificed  to  idols ;  therefore  he  was  not  inf alhble.  I 
told  them  that  if  they  were  in  the  infallible  Spirit 
they  need  not  have  jails,  swords,  and  staves,  racks  and 
tortures,  fires  and  faggots,  whips  and  gallows,  to  hold 
up  their  religion,  and  to  destroy  men's  lives  about  it ; 
for  if  they  were  in  the  infallible  Spirit  they  would 
preserve  men's  lives,  and  use  none  but  spiritual 
weapons  about  religion. 

Another  Papist  who  came  to  discourse  with  me 
said,  "  All  the  patriarchs  were  in  hell  from  the  crea- 
tion till  Christ  came.  When  Christ  suffered  He 
went  into  hell,  and  the  devil  said  to  Him,  What  com- 
est  thou  hither  for  ?  to  break  open  our  strongholds  ? 
And  Christ  said,  To  fetch  them  all  out.  So  Christ 
was  three  days  and  three  nights  in  hell  to  bring  them 
out." 

I  told  him  that  that  was  false;  for  Christ  said  to 
the  thief,  "  This  day  thou  shalt  be  with  me  in  para- 
dise"; and  Enoch  and  Elijah  were  translated  into 
heaven;  and  Abraham  was  in  heaven,  for  the  Scrip- 
ture saith  that  Lazarus  was  in  his  bosom;  and  Moses 
and  Elias  were  with  Christ  upon  the  Mount,  before 
He  suffered. 

These  instances  stopped  the  Papist's  mouth,  and 
put  him  to  a  stand. 

Another  time  came  Dr.  Witty,  who  was  esteemed 
a  great  doctor  in  physic,  with  Lord  Falconbridge,  the 
governor  of  Tinmouth  Castle,  and  several  knights. 

I  being  called  to  them,  Witty  imdertook  to  dis- 
course with  me,  and  asked  me  what  I  was  in  prison 


A  Year  in  Scarborough  Castle.  443 


for.  I  told  him,  "  Because  I  would  not  disobey  the 
command  of  Christ,  and  swear."  He  said  I  ought  to 
swear  my  allegiance  to  the  King. 

He  being  a  great  Presbyterian,  I  asked  him 
whether  he  had  not  sworn  against  the  King  and 
House  of  Lords,  and  taken  the  Scotch  covenant? 
And  had  he  not  since  sworn  to  the  King?  What, 
then,  was  his  swearing  good  for  ?  But  my  allegiance, 
I  told  him,  did  not  consist  in  swearing,  but  in  truth 
and  faithfulness. 

After  some  further  discourse  I  was  taken  away  to 
my  prison  again;  and  afterwards  Dr.  Witty  boasted 
in  the  town  amongst  his  patients  that  he  had  con- 
quered me.  When  I  heard  of  it,  I  told  the  Gov- 
ernor it  was  a  small  boast  in  him  to  say  he  had  con- 
quered a  bondman.  I  desired  to  bid  him  come  to  me 
again  when  he  came  to  the  Castle. 

He  came  again  awhile  after,  with  about  sixteen  or 
seventeen  great  persons,  and  then  he  ran  himself 
worse  on  ground  than  before.  For  he  affirmed  before 
them  all  that  Christ  had  not  enlightened  every  man 
that  Cometh  into  the  world;  and  that  the  grace  of 
God,  that  bringeth  salvation,  had  not  appeared  unto 
all  men,  and  that  Christ  had  not  died  for  all  men. 

I  asked  him  what  sort  of  men  those  were  whom 
Christ  had  not  enlightened  ?  and  whom  His  grace  had 
not  appeared  to  ?  and  whom  He  had  not  died  for  ? 

He  said,  Christ  did  not  die  for  adulterers,  and 
idolaters,  and  wicked  men." 

I  asked  him  whether  adulterers  and  wicked  men 
were  not  sinners. 

He  said,  "  Yes." 


444         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

"  Did  not  Christ  die  for  sinners  ?  "  said  I.    "  Did 
He  not  come  to  call  sinners  to  repentance  ? " 
Yes,"  said  he. 

"  Then,"  said  I,  "  thou  hast  stopped  thy  own 
mouth." 

So  I  proved  that  the  grace  of  God  had  appeared 
unto  all  men,  though  some  turned  from  it  into  wan- 
tonness, and  walked  despitefully  against  it;  and  that 
Christ  had  enlightened  all  men,  though  some  hated 
the  hght. 

Several  of  the  people  confessed  it  was  true ;  but  he 
went  away  in  a  great  rage,  and  came  no  more  to  me. 

Another  time  the  Governor  brought  a  priest;  but 
his  mouth  was  soon  stopped. 

'Not  long  after  he  brought  two  or  three  Parlia- 
ment-men, who  asked  me  whether  I  did  own  minis- 
ters and  bishops. 

I  told  them,  "  Yes,  such  as  Christ  sent ;  such  as 
had  freely  received  and  would  freely  give;  such  as 
were  qualified,  and  were  in  the  same  power  and 
Spirit  the  apostles  were  in.  But  such  bishops  and 
teachers  as  yours,  that  will  go  no  farther  than  a  great 
benefice,  I  do  not  own ;  for  they  are  not  like  the  apos- 
tles. Christ  saith  to  his  ministers,  '  Go  ye  into  all 
nations,  and  preach  the  gospel';  but  ye  Parliament- 
men,  who  keep  your  priests  and  bishops  in  such  great 
fat  benefices,  have  spoiled  them  all.  For  do  ye  think 
they  will  go  into  all  nations  to  preach;  or  any  farther 
than  a  great  fat  benefice  ?  Judge  yourselves  whether 
they  will  or  not." 

There  came  another  time  the  widow  of  old  Lord 
Fairfax,  and  with  her  a  great  company,  one  of  whom 


A  Year  in  Scarborough  Castle.  445 

was  a  priest.  I  was  moved  to  declare  the  truth  to 
them,  and  the  priest  asked  me  why  we  said  Thou  and 
Thee  to  people,  for  he  counted  us  but  fools  and  idiots 
for  speaking  so. 

I  asked  him  whether  they  that  translated  the 
Scriptures  and  that  made  the  grammar  and  acci- 
dence, were  fools  and  idiots,  seeing  they  translated 
the  Scriptures  so,  and  made  the  grammar  so.  Thou 
to  one,  and  You  to  more  than  one,  and  left  it  so  to  us. 
If  they  were  fools  and  idiots,  why  had  not  he,  and 
such  as  he,  that  looked  upon  themselves  as  wise  men, 
and  that  could  not  bear  Thou  and  Thee  to  a  singular, 
altered  the  grammar,  accidence,  and  Bible,  and  put 
the  plural  instead  of  the  singular.  But  if  they  were 
wise  men  that  had  so  translated  the  Bible,  and  had 
made  the  grammar  and  accidence  so,  I  wished  him  to 
consider  whether  they  were  not  fools  and  idiots 
themselves,  that  did  not  speak  as  their  grammars  and 
Bibles  taught  them;  but  were  offended  with  us,  and 
called  us  fools  and  idiots  for  speaking  so. 

Thus  the  priest's  mouth  was  stopped,  and  many  of 
the  company  acknowledged  the  Truth,  and  were 
pretty  loving  and  tender.  Some  of  them  would  have 
given  me  money,  but  I  would  not  receive  it. 

After  this  came  Dr.  Cradock,  with  three  priests 
more,  and  the  Governor  and  his  lady  (so  called),  and 
another  that  was  called  a  lady,  and  a  great  company 
with  them. 

Dr.  Cradock  asked  me  what  I  was  in  prison  for.  I 
told  him,  "  For  obeying  the  command  of  Christ  and 
the  apostle,  in  not  swearing."  But  if  he,  I  said,  being 
both  a  doctor  and  a  justice  of  peace,  could  convince 


446         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

me  that  after  Christ  and  the  Apostle  had  forbidden 
swearing,  they  commanded  Christians  to  swear,  then 
I  would  swear.  "  Here  is  the  Bible,"  I  told  him, 
"  thou  mayest,  if  thou  canst,  show  me  any  such  com- 
mand." 

He  said,  "  It  is  written,  '  Ye  shall  swear  in  truth 
and  righteousness.'  " 

"  Ay,"  said  I,  "  it  was  so  written  in  Jeremiah's 
time;  but  that  was  many  ages  before  Christ  com- 
manded not  to  swear  at  all;  but  where  is  it  written 
so,  since  Christ  forbade  all  swearing  ?  I  could  bring 
as  many  instances  out  of  the  Old  Testament  for 
swearing  as  thou,  and  it  may  be  more;  but  of  what 
force  are  they  to  prove  swearing  lawful  in  the  New 
Testament,  since  Christ  and  the  Apostle  forbade  it  ? 
Besides,"  said  I,  "  in  that  text  where  it  is  written.  Ye 
shall  swear,  what  '  ye  '  was  this  ?  Was  it  '  Ye  Gen- 
tiles,' or  '  Ye  Jews  '  ?  " 

To  this  he  would  not  answer.  But  one  of  the 
priests  that  were  with  him  answered,  "  It  was  to  the 
Jews  that  this  was  spoken."  Then  Dr.  Cradock  con- 
fessed it  was  so. 

"  Very  well,"  said  I,  "  but  where  did  God  ever 
give  a  command  to  the  Gentiles  to  swear  ?  For  thou 
knowest  that  we  are  Gentiles  by  nature." 

"  Indeed,"  said  he,  "  in  the  gospel  times  every-  • 
thing  was  to  be  established  out  of  the  mouths  of  two 
or  three  witnesses;  but  there  was  to  be  no  swearing 
then." 

"  Why,  then,"  said  I,  "  dost  thou  force  oaths  upon 
Christians,  contrary  to  thy  own  knowledge,  in  the 
gospel-times  ?  And  why  dost  thou  excommunicate  my 


A  Year  in  Scarborough  Castle.  447 


friends  ? "  for  he  had  excommunicated  abundance 
both  in  Yorkshire  and  Lancashire. 

He  said,  "  For  not  coming  to  church."  "  Why," 
said  I,  "  ye  left  us  above  twenty  years  ago,  when  we 
were  but  young  lads  and  lasses,  to  the  Presbyterians, 
Independents,  and  Baptists,  many  of  whom  made 
spoil  of  our  goods,  and  persecuted  us  because  we 
would  not  follow  them.  We,  being  but  young,  knew 
little  then  of  your  principles.  If  ye  had  intended  to 
keep  your  principles  alive,  that  we  might  have  known 
them,  ye  should  either  not  have  fled  from  us  as  ye 
did,  or  ye  should  have  sent  us  your  epistles,  collects, 
homilies,  and  evening  songs;  for  Paul  wrote  epistles 
to  the  saints,  though  he  was  in  prison.  But  they  and 
we  might  have  turned  Turks  or  Jews  for  any  col- 
lects, homilies,  or  epistles  we  had  from  you  all  this 
while.  And  now  thou  hast  excommianicated  us,  both 
young  and  old,  and  so  have  others  of  you  done ;  that 
is,  ye  have  put  us  out  of  your  church  before  ye  have 
got  us  into  it,  and  before  ye  have  brought  us  to 
know  your  principles.  Is  not  this  madness  in  you,  to 
put  us  out  before  we  were  brought  in  ?  Indeed,  if 
ye  had  brought  us  into  your  church,  and  when  we 
had  been  in,  if  we  had  done  some  bad  thing,  that  had 
been  something  like  a  ground  for  excommunication 
or  putting  out  again.  But,"  said  I,  "  What  dost  thou 
call  the  Church  ?  " 

"  Why,"  said  he,  "  that  which  you  call  the  steeple- 
house." 

Then  I  asked  him  whether  Christ  shed  His  blood 
for  the  steeple-house,  and  purchased  and  sanctified 
the  steeple-house  with  His  blood.    And  seeing  the 


448         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

Church  is  Christ's  bride  and  wife,  and  that  He  is  the 
Head  of  the  Church,  dost  thou  think  the  steeple- 
house  is  Christ's  wife  and  bride,  and  that  He  is  the 
head  of  that  old  house,  or  of  His  people  ? " 

"  No,"  said  he,  "  Christ  is  the  head  of  His  people, 
and  they  are  the  Church." 

"  But,"  said  I,  "  You  have  given  the  title  Church 
to  an  old  house,  which  belongs  to  the  people;  and  you 
have  taught  them  to  believe  so." 

I  asked  him  also  why  he  persecuted  Friends  for 
not  paying  tithes;  whether  God  ever  commanded  the 
Gentiles  to  pay  tithes ;  whether  Christ  had  not  ended 
tithes  when  He  ended  the  Levitical  priesthood  that 
took  tithes;  whether  Christ,  when  He  sent  His  dis- 
ciples to  preach,  had  not  commanded  them  to  preach 
freely  as  He  had  given  them  freely;  and  whether  all 
the  ministers  of  Christ  are  not  bound  to  observe  this 
command  of  Christ. 

He  said  he  would  not  dispute  that. 

Neither  did  I  find  he  was  willing  to  stay  on  that 
subject;  for  he  presently  turned  to  another  matter, 
and  said,  "  You  marry,  but  I  know  not  how." 

I  replied,  "  It  may  be  so;  but  why  dost  thou  not 
come  and  see  ?  " 

Then  he  threatened  that  he  would  use  his  power 
against  us,  as  he  had  done.  I  bade  him  take  heed; 
for  he  was  an  old  man.  I  asked  him  also  where  he 
read,  from  Genesis  to  Revelation,  that  ever  any 
priest  did  marry  any.  I  wished  him  to  show  me 
some  instance  thereof,  if  he  would  have  us  come  to 
them  to  be  married ;  "  for,"  said  I,  "  thou  hast  ex- 
communicated one  of  my  friends  two  years  after  he 


A  Year  in  Scarborough  Castle. 


449 


was  dead,  about  his  marriage.  And  why  dost  thou 
not  excommunicate  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  and  Boaz,  and 
Ruth  ?  for  we  do  not  read  that  they  were  ever  mar- 
ried by  the  priests;  but  they  took  one  another  in  tlie 
assemblies  of  the  righteous,  in  the  presence  of  God 
and  His  people;  and  so  do  we.  So  that  we  have  all 
the  holy  men  and  women  that  the  Scripture  speaks 
of  in  this  practice,  on  our  side." 

Much  discourse  we  had,  but  when  he  found  he 
could  get  no  advantage  over  me,  he  went  away  with 
his  company. 

With  such  people  I  was  much  exercised  while  I 
was  there;  for  most  that  came  to  the  Castle  would 
desire  to  speak  with  me,  and  great  disputes  I  had 
with  them.  But  as  to  Friends,  I  was  as  a  man  buried 
alive;  for  though  many  came  far  to  see  me,  yet  few 
were  suffered  to  come  to  me;  and  when  any  Friend 
came  into  the  Castle  about  business,  if  he  looked 
towards  me  they  would  rage  at  him. 

At  last  the  Governor  came  under  some  trouble 
himself;  for  he  having  sent  a  privateer  to  sea,  they 
took  some  ships  that  were  not  enemies'  ships,  but 
their  friends';  whereupon  he  was  brought  into 
trouble;  after  which  he  grew  somewhat  more 
friendly  to  me.  For  before  I  had  a  marshal  set  over 
me,  on  purpose  to  get  money  out  of  me;  but  I  was 
not  free  to  give  him  a  farthing;  and  when  they  found 
they  could  get  nothing  off  me,  he  was  taken  away 
again. 

The  officers  often  threatened  that  I  should  be 
hanged  over  the  wall.  Nay,  the  deputy-governor 
told  me  once  that  the  King,  knowing  I  had  great  in- 


450         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

terest  in  the  people,  had  sent  me  thither,  that  if  there 
should  be  any  stirring  in  the  nation,  they  should 
hang  me  over  the  wall  to  keep  the  people  down. 
.  There  being,  a  while  after,  a  marriage  at  a  Bap- 
tist's house,  upon  which  occasion  a  great  many  of 
them  were  met  together,  they  talked  much  then  of 
hanging  me.  But  I  told  them  that  if  that  was  what 
they  desired,  and  it  was  permitted  them,  I  was  ready, 
for  I  never  feared  death  nor  sufferings  in  my  life ;  but 
I  was  known  to  be  an  innocent,  peaceable  man,  free 
from  all  stirrings  and  plottings,  and  one  that  sought 
the  good  of  all  men. 

Afterwards,  the  Governor  growing  kinder,  I  spoke 
to  him  when  he  was  going  to  London  to  the  Parlia- 
ment, and  desired  him  to  speak  to  Esquire  Marsh,  Sir 
Francis  Cobb,  and  some  others;  and  let  them  know 
how  long  I  had  lain  in  prison,  and  for  what ;  and  he 
did  so.  When  he  came  down  again,  he  told  me  that 
Esquire  Marsh  said  he  would  go  a  hundred  miles 
barefoot  for  my  liberty,  he  knew  me  so  well;  and  sev- 
eral others,  he  said,  spoke  well  of  me.  From  which 
time  the  Governor  was  very  loving  to  me. 

There  were,  amongst  the  prisoners,  two  very  bad 
men,  that  often  sat  drinking  with  the  oflScers  and 
soldiers;  and  because  I  would  not  sit  and  drink  with 
them  too,  it  made  them  the  worse  against  me.  One 
time  when  these  two  prisoners  were  drunk,  one  of 
them  (whose  name  was  William  Wilkinson,  a  Presby- 
terian, who  had  been  a  captain),  came  to  me  and  chal- 
lenged me  to  fight  with  him. 

Seeing  what  condition  he  was  in,  I  got  out  of  his 
way;  and  next  morning,  when  he  was  more  sober, 


A  Year  in  Scarborough  Castle.  451 

showed  him  how  unmanly  it  was  in  him  to  challenge 
a  man  to  fight,  whose  principles,  he  knew,  it  was  not 
to  strike,  but  if  he  was  stricken  on  one  ear  to  turn 
the  other.  I  told  him,  if  he  had  a  mind  to  fight,  he 
should  have  challenged  some  soldiers  that  could  have 
answered  him  in  his  own  way. 

But,  however,  seeing  he  had  challenged  me,  I  was 
now  come  to  answer  him  with  my  hands  in  my 
pockets;  and  (reaching  my  head  towards  him), 
"  Here,"  said  I,  "  here  is  my  hair,  here  are  my 
cheeks,  here  is  my  back." 

With  this  he  skipped  away  from  me  and  went  into 
another  room;  at  which  the  soldiers  fell  a-laughing; 
and  one  of  the  officers  said,  You  are  a  happy  man 
that  can  bear  such  things."  Thus  he  was  conquered 
without  a  blow.  After  awhile  he  took  the  oath,  gave 
bond,  got  out  of  prison ;  and  not  long  after  the  Lord 
cut  him  oflF.^ 

There  were  great  imprisonments  in  this  and  the 
former  years,  while  I  was  prisoner  at  Lancaster  and 
Scarborough.  At  London  many  Friends  were 
crowded  into  l^ewgate,  and  other  prisons,  where  the 
sickness  was,*  and  many  died  in  prison.    Many  also 


^  George  Fox  had  a  very  keen  eye  for  "  judgments  " 
which  came  upon  persons  who  abused  him  or  hindered 
his  work.  It  accords  completely  with  the  ideas  of  the 
time,  and  is  one  of  the  things  which  he  had  not 
transcended. 


^  This  "  sickness  "  was  the  London  "  plague  "  of 
1665. 


452         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

were  banished,  and  several  sent  on  ship-board  by  the 
King's  order. 

Some  masters  of  ships  would  not  carry  them,  but 
set  them  on  shore  again;  yet  some  were  sent  to  Bar- 
badoes,  Jamaica,  and  Nevis,  and  the  Lord  blessed 
them  there.  One  master  of  a  ship  was  very  wicked 
and  cruel  to  Friends  that  were  put  on  board  his  ship; 
for  he  kept  them  down  under  decks,  though  the  sick- 
ness was  amongst  them ;  so  that  many  died  of  it.  But 
the  Lord  visited  him  for  his  wickedness;  for  he  lost 
most  of  his  seamen  by  the  plague,  and  lay  several 
months  crossed  with  contrary  winds,  though  other 
ships  went  on  and  made  their  voyages. 

At  last  he  came  before  Plymouth,  where  the  Gov- 
ernor and  magistrates  would  not  suffer  him  nor  any 
of  his  men  to  come  ashore,  though  he  wanted  neces- 
saries for  his  voyage;  but  Thomas  Lower,  Arthur 
Cotton,  John  Light,  and  other  Friends,  went  to  the 
ship's  side,  and  carried  necessaries  for  the  Friends 
that  were  prisoners  on  board. 

The  master,  being  thus  crossed  and  vexed,  cursed 
them  that  put  him  upon  this  freight,  and  said  he 
hoped  he  should  not  go  far  before  he  was  taken.  And 
the  vessel  was  but  a  little  while  gone  out  of  sight  of 
Plymouth  before  she  was  taken  by  a  Dutch  man-of- 
war,  and  carried  into  Holland. 

When  they  came  into  Holland,  the  States  sent  the 
banished  Friends  back  to  England,  with  a  letter  of 
passport,  and  a  certificate  that  they  had  not  made  an 
escape,  but  were  sent  back  by  them. 

In  time  the  Lord's  power  wrought  over  this  storm, 


A  Year  in  Scarborough  Castle.  453 

and  many  of  our  persecutors  were  confounded  and 
put  to  shame. 

After  I  had  lain  prisoner  above  a  year  in  Sear- 
borough  Castle,  I  sent  a  letter  to  the  King,  in  which 
I  gave  him  an  account  of  my  imprisonment,  and  the 
bad  usage  I  had  received  in  prison;  and  also  that  I  was 
informed  no  man  could  deliver  me  but  him.  After 
this,  John  Whitehead  being  at  London,  and  having 
acquaintance  also  with  Esquire  Marsh,  he  went  to 
visit  him,  and  spoke  to  him  about  me;  and  he  under- 
took, if  John  Whitehead  would  get  the  state  of  my 
case  drawn  iip,  to  deliver  it  to  the  master  of  requests, 
Sir  John  Birkenhead,  who  would  endeavor  to  get  a 
release  for  me. 

So  John  Whitehead  and  Ellis  Ilookes  drew  up  a 
relation  of  my  imprisonment  and  sufferings,  and  car- 
ried it  to  Marsh;  and  he  went  with  it  to  the  master  of 
requests,  who  procured  an  order  from  the  King  for 
my  release.  The  substance  of  the  order  was  that 
"  the  King,  being  certainly  informed  that  I  was  a 
man  principled  against  plotting  and  fighting,  and  had 
been  ready  at  all  times  to  discover  plots,  rather  than 
to  make  any,  etc.,  therefore  his  royal  pleasure  was 
that  I  should  be  discharged  from  my  imprison- 
ment," etc. 

As  soon  as  this  order  was  obtained,  John  White- 
head came  to  Scarborough  with  it,  and  delivered  it 
to  the  Governor;  who,  irpon  receipt  thereof,  gathered 
the  officers  together,  and,  without  requiring  bond  or 
sureties  for  my  peaceable  living,  being  satisfied  that 
I  was  a  man  of  a  peaceable  life,  he  discharged  me 
freely,  and  gave  me  the  following  passport : 


454         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

"  Permit  the  bearer  hereof,  George  Fox,  late  a 
prisoner  here,  and  now  discharged  by  His  Majesty's 
order,  quietly  to  pass  about  his  lawful  occasions, 
without  any  molestation.  Given  under  my  hand  at 
Scarborough  Castle,  this  first  day  of  September, 
1666. 

"  Jordan  Croslands, 
"  Governor  of  Scarborough  Castle." 

After  I  was  released,  I  would  have  made  the 
Governor  a  present  for  the  civility  and  kindness  he 
had  of  late  shown  me;  but  he  would  not  receive  any- 
thing; saying  that  whatever  good  he  could  do  for  me 
and  my  friends  he  would  do  it,  and  never  do  them 
any  hurt.  And  afterwards,  if  at  any  time  the  mayor 
of  the  tovm  sent  to  him  for  soldiers  to  break  up 
Friends'  meetings,  if  he  sent  any  down  he  would  pri- 
vately give  them  a  charge  not  to  meddle.  He  con- 
tinued loving  to  his  dying  day. 

The  oflScers  also  and  the  soldiers  were  mightily 
changed,  and  became  very  respectful  to  me,  and 
when  they  had  occasion  to  speak  of  me  they  would 
say,  "  He  is  as  stiff  as  a  tree,  and  as  pure  as  a  bell; 
for  we  could  never  bow  him." 

[Here  is  an  interesting  entry  in  the  Journal  in  the 
year  1669:  "  I  then  visited  friends  at  Whitby  and 
Scarborough.  When  I  was  at  Scarborough,  the  gov- 
ernor, hearing  I  was  come,  sent  to  invite  me  to  his 
house,  saying,  '  Surely,  you  would  not  be  so  unkind  as 
not  to  come  and  see  me  and  my  wife.'  After  the  meeting 
I  went  to  visit  him,  and  he  received  me  very  cour- 
teously and  lovingly."] 


Year  in  Scarborough  Castle.  455 

The  very  next  day  after  my  release,  the  fire  broke 
out  in  London,  and  the  report  of  it  came  quickly 
down  into  the  country.  Then  I  saw  the  Lord  God 
was  true  and  just  in  His  Word,  which  he  had  shown 
me  before  in  Lancaster  jail,  when  I  saw  the  angel 
of  the  Lord  with  a  glittering  sword  drawn  south- 
ward, as  before  expressed. 

The  people  of  London  were  forewarned  of  this 
fire;  yet  few  laid  to  heart,  or  believed  it;  but  rather 
grew  more  wicked,  and  higher  in  pride.  For  a  Friend 
was  moved  to  come  out  of  Huntingdonshire  a  little 
before  the  fire,  to  scatter  his  money,  and  turn  his 
horse  loose  on  the  streets,  to  untie  the  knees  of  his 
trousers,  let  his  stockings  fall  down,  and  to  im- 
button  his  doublet,  and  tell  the  people  that  so  should 
they  run  up  and  down,  scattering  their  money  and 
their  goods,  half  undressed,  like  mad  people,  as  he 
was  sign  to  them;  *  and  so  they  did,  when  the  city 
was  burning. 

Thus  hath  the  Lord  exercised  His  prophets  and 
servants  by  His  power,  shown  them  signs  of  His 
judgments,  and  sent  them  to  forewarn  the  people; 
but,  instead  of  repenting,  they  have  beaten  and 


*  This  was  Thomas  Ibbett,  of  Huntingdonshire.  He 
went  distracted  a  little  later,  and,  standing  in  Cheap- 
side  during  the  great  fire,  he  tried  to  stop  its  progress 
with  his  outspread  arms,  so  that  he  nearly  perished  in 
the  flames.  For  a  remarkable  prophecy  of  the  "  great 
plague  "  see  "  Writings  of  George  Fox  the  Younger," 
1662,  pages  219-221. 


456         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

cruelly  entreated  some,  and  some  they  have  impris- 
oned, both  in  the  former  power's  days*  and  since. 

But  the  Lord  is  just,  and  happy  are  they  that  obey 
His  word. 

Some  have  been  moved  to  go  naked  in  their  streets, 
in  the  other  power's  days  and  since,  as  signs  of  their 
nakedness;  and  have  declared  amongst  them  that 
God  would  strip  them  of  their  hypocritical  profes- 
sions, and  make  them  as  bare  and  naked  as  they  were. 
But  instead  of  considering  it,  they  have  many  times 
whipped,  or  otherwise  abused  them,  and  sometimes 
imprisoned  them. 

Others  have  been  moved  to  go  in  sackcloth,  and  to 
denounce  the  woes  and  vengeance  of  God  against  the 
pride  and  haughtiness  of  the  people;  but  few  re- 
garded it.  And  in  the  other  power's  days,  the 
wicked,  envious,  and  professing  priests,  put  up  sev- 
eral petitions  both  to  Oliver  and  Richard,  called  Pro- 
tectors, and  to  the  Parliaments,  judges  and  justices, 
against  us,  full  of  lies,  vilifying  words  and  slanders; 
but  we  got  copies  of  them,  and,  through  the  Lord's 
assistance,  answered  them  all,  and  cleared  the  Lord's 
truth  and  ourselves  of  them. 

But  oh  !  the  body  of  darkness  that  rose  against  the 
Truth  in  them  that  made  lies  their  refuge !  But  the 
Lord  swept  them  away;  and  in  and  with  His  power, 
truth,  light,  and  life,  hedged  his  lambs  about,  and 
preserved  them  as  on  eagles'  wings.  Therefore  we 
all  had,  and  have,  great  encouragement  to  trust  the 
Lord,  who,  we  saw  by  His  power  and  Spirit,  over- 
turned and  brought  to  naught  all  the  confederacies 

*  The  days  of  Oliver  Cromwell. 


A  Year  in  Scarborough  Castle.  457 


and  counsels  that  were  hatched  in  darkness  against 
His  Truth  and  people;  and  by  the  same  truth  gave 
His  people  dominion,  that  therein  they  might  serve 
Him. 

Indeed,  I  could  not  but  take  notice  how  the  hand 
of  the  Lord  turned  against  the  persecutors  who  had 
been  the  cause  of  my  imprisonment,  or  had  been 
abusive  or  cruel  to  me  in  it.  The  officer  that  fetched 
me  to  Holker-Hall  wasted  his  estate,  and  soon  after 
fled  into  Ireland.  Most  of  the  justices  that  were  upon 
the  bench  at  the  sessions  when  I  was  sent  to  prison, 
died  in  a  while  after;  as  old  Thomas  Preston,  Raw- 
linson,  Porter,  and  Matthew  West,  of  Borwick.  Jus- 
tice Fleming's  wife  died,  and  left  him  thirteen  or 
fourteen  motherless  children.  Colonel  Kirby  never 
prospered  after.  The  chief  constable,  Richard  Dodg- 
son,  died  soon  after,  and  Mount,  the  petty  constable, 
and  the  wife  of  the  other  petty  constable,  John  Ash- 
bumham,  who  railed  at  me  in  her  house,  died  soon 
after.  William  Knipe,  the  witness  they  brought 
against  me,  died  soon  after  also.  Hunter,  the  jailer 
of  Lancaster,  who  was  very  wicked  to  me  while  I  was 
his  prisoner,  was  cut  ofF  in  his  yoimg  days;  and  the 
under-sheriff  that  carried  me  from  Lancaster  prison 
towards  Scarborough,  lived  not  long  after.  And  Job- 
lin,  the  jailer  of  Durham,  who  was  prisoner  with  me 
in  Scarborough  Castle,  and  had  often  incensed  the 
Governor  and  soldiers  against  me,  though  he  got  out 
of  prison,  yet  the  Lord  cut  him  off  in  his  wickedness 
soon  after. 

When  I  came  into  that  country  again,  most  of 
those  that  dwelt  in  Lancashire  were  dead,  and  others 


458         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


ruined  in  their  estates;  so  that,  though  I  did  not  seek 
revenge  upon  them  for  their  actings  against  me  con- 
trary to  the  law,  yet  the  Lord  had  executed  His  judg- 
ments upon  many  of  them. 


CHAPTER  XVn. 

at  tfje  Maxk  of  ©rganiimg. 

1667-1670. 

I  then  visited  Friends  till  I  came  to  York,  where 
we  had  a  large  meeting.  After  this  I  went  to  visit 
Justice  Robinson,  an  ancient  justice  of  the  peace, 
who  had  been  very  loving  to  me  and  Friends  from  the 
beginning. 

There  was  a  priest  with  him,  who  told  me  that  it 
was  said  of  us,  that  we  loved  none  but  ourselves.  I 
told  him  that  we  loved  all  mankind,  as  they  were 
God's  creation,  and  as  they  were  children  of  Adam 
and  Eve  by  generation ;  and  that  we  loved  the  broth- 
erhood in  the  Holy  Ghost. 

This  stopped  him.  After  some  other  discourse  we 
parted  friendly,  and  passed  away. 

About  this  time  I  wrote  a  book,  entitled,  "  Fear 
God,  and  Honour  the  King  " ;  in  which  I  showed  that 
none  could  rightly  fear  God  and  honour  the  King  but 
they  that  departed  from  sin  and  evil.  This  book 
greatly  affected  the  soldiers,  and  most  people. 

Then  I  was  moved  of  the  Lord  to  recommend  the 
setting  up  of  five  monthly  meetings  of  men  and 
women  in  the  city  of  London  (besides  the  women's 
meetings  and  the  quarterly  meetings),  to  take  care  of 
God's  glory,  and  to  admonish  and  exhort  such  as 
walked  disorderly  or  carelessly,  and  not  according  to 
Truth.   For  whereas  Friends  had  had  only  quarterly 


460         George  Fox:  An  Autohiography. 

meetings,  now  Truth  was  spread,  and  Friends  were 
grown  more  numerous,  I  was  moved  to  recommend 
the  setting  up  of  monthly  meetings  throughout  the 
nation/  And  the  Lord  opened  to  me  what  I  must  do, 
and  how  the  men's  and  women's  monthly  and  quar- 
terly meetings  should  be  ordered  and  established  in 
this  and  in  other  nations;  and  that  I  should  write  to 
those  where  I  did  not  come,  to  do  the  same. 

After  things  were  well  settled  at  London,  and  the 
Lord's  Truth,  power,  seed,  and  life  reigned  and  shone 
over  all  in  the  city,  I  went  into  Essex. 

[Throughout  the  counties  where  he  had  preached,  he 
now  went,  setting  up  monthly  meetings,  i.e.,  local 
meetings  for  transacting  the  business  of  the  Church, 
and  for  ordering  and  overseeing  the  moral  and  spiritual 
life  of  the  membership.  We  shall  not  follow  his  move- 
ments in  detail,  but  it  may  here  be  noted  that  the 
world's  records  show  few  instances  of  more  striking 
energy,  and  fidelity  to  a  divine  mission,  than  do  the 


^  In  nothing  did  Fox  show  his  originality  and  insight 
more  clearly  than  in  his  work  of  organizing  the  Society 
which  his  ministry  had  drawn  together.  During  his 
long  imprisonment  many  internal  difficulties  had 
arisen,  which  showed  that  the  Society  was  too  loosely 
organized  for  a  permanent  work  in  the  world.  The  rest 
of  his  life — twenty-four  years — was  mainly  devoted  to 
this  work  of  perfecting  the  system  of  meetings  and 
government,  though  his  ministry  meantime  in  no  way 
slackened.  The  first  system  of  Discipline,  printed  in 
1669  by  his  opponents,  under  the  title,  "  Canons  and 
Institutions,"  was  drawn  up  soon  after  the  release  from 
Scarborough  Castle. 


Ai  the  Work  of  Organizing. 


461 


entries  of  these  twenty-four  years.  Here  is  one  glimpse 
of  him  as  he  is  traveling  through  "  the  frost  and  snow," 
during  the  winter  of  1667.] 

I  was  so  exceeding  weak,  I  was  hardly  able  to  get 
on  or  off  my  horse's  back;  but  my  spirit  being  earn- 
estly engaged  in  the  work  the  Lord  had  concerned 
me  in  and  sent  me  forth  about,  I  travelled  on  therein, 
notwithstanding  the  weakness  of  my  body,  having 
confidence  in  the  Lord,  that  He  would  carry  me 
through,  as  He  did  by  His  power. 

We  came  into  Cheshire,  where  we  had  several 
blessed  meetings,  and  a  general  men's  meeting; 
wherein  all  the  monthly  meetings  for  that  coimty 
were  settled,  according  to  the  gospel  order,  in  and  by 
the  power  of  God. 

After  the  meeting  I  passed  away.  But  when  the 
justices  heard  of  it,  they  were  very  much  troubled 
that  they  had  not  come  and  broken  it  up,  and  taken 
me;  but  the  Lord  prevented  them. 

Then,  returning  towards  London  by  Waltham,  I 
advised  the  setting  up  of  a  school  there  for  teaching 
boys;  and  also  a  woman's  school  to  be  opened  at 
Shacklewell,  for  instructing  girls  and  young  maidens 
in  whatsoever  things  were  civil  and  useful  in  the 
creation.^ 

Thus  were  the  men's  monthly  meetings  settled 

^  On  this  broad  principle,  of  teaching  everything  useful 
and  civil  in  creation,  the  work  of  Friends  began  in  the 
cause  of  education.  The  subsequent  history  of  their 
educational  work  is  notable. 


462         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

through  the  nation.  [1668.]  The  quarterly  meet- 
ings were  generally  settled  before. 

I  wrote  also  into  Ireland  by  faithful  Friends,  and 
into  Scotland,  Holland,  Barbadoes,  and  several  parts 
of  America,  advising  Friends  to  settle  their  men's 
monthly  meetings  in  those  countries.  For  they  had 
had  their  general  quarterly  meetings  before;  but  now 
that  Truth  was  increased  amongst  them,  it  was  need- 
ful that  they  should  settle  those  men's  monthly  meet- 
ings in  the  power  and  Spirit  of  God,  that  first  con- 
vinced them. 

Since  these  meetings  have  been  settled,  and  all  the 
faithful  in  the  power  of  God,  who  are  heirs  of  the 
gospel,  have  met  together  in  the  power  of  God,  which 
is  their  authority,  to  perform  service  to  the  Lord, 
many  mouths  have  been  opened  in  thanksgiving  and 
praise,  and  many  have  blessed  the  Lord  God,  that 
ever  He  sent  me  forth  in  this  service.  For  now  all 
coming  to  have  a  concern  and  care  for  God's  honour 
and  glory,  and  His  name,  which  they  profess,  be  not 
blasphemed ;  and  to  see  that  all  who  profess  the  Truth 
walk  in  the  Truth,  in  righteousness  and  in  holiness, 
as  becomes  the  house  of  God,  and  that  all  order  their 
conversation  aright,  that  they  may  see  the  salvation 
of  God;  they  may  all  see  and  know,  possess  and  par- 
take of,  the  government  of  Christ,  of  the  increase  of 
which  there  is  to  be  no  end. 

Thus  the  Lord's  everlasting  reno'wn  and  praise  are 
set  up  in  the  heart  of  every  one  that  is  faithful;  so 
that  we  can  say  the  gospel  order  established  amongst 
us  is  not  of  man,  nor  by  man,  but  of  and  by  Jesus 
Christ,  in  and  through  the  Holy  Ghost. 


At  the  Work  of  Organizing.  463 


This  order  of  the  gospel,  which  is  not  of  man  nor 
by  man,  but  from  Christ,  the  heavenly  man,  is  above 
all  the  orders  of  men  in  the  fall,  whether  Jews,  Gen- 
tiles, or  apostate  Christians,  and  will  remain  when 
they  are  gone.  For  the  power  of  God,  which  is  the 
everlasting  gospel,  was  before  the  devil  was,  and  will 
be  and  remain  forever.  And  as  the  everlasting  gos- 
pel was  preached  in  the  apostles'  days  to  all  nations, 
that  all  nations  might,  through  the  divine  power 
which  brings  life  and  immortality  to  light,  come  into 
the  order  of  it,  so  now  the  everlasting  gospel  is  to  be, 
and  is,  preached  again,  as  John  the  divine  foresaw  it 
should  be,  to  all  nations,  kindreds,  tongues,  and  peo- 
ple. 

'Now  *  was  I  moved  of  the  Lord  to  go  over 
into  Ireland,  to  visit  the  Seed  of  God  in  that  nation. 
There  went  with  me  Robert  Lodge,  James  Lancaster. 
Thomas  Briggs,  and  John  Stubbs. 

We  waited  near  Liverpool  for  shipping  and  wind. 
After  waiting  some  days,  we  sent  James  Lancaster 
to  take  passage,  which  he  did,  and  brought  word  the 
ship  was  ready,  and  would  take  us  in  at  Black  Rock. 
We  went  thither  on  foot;  and  it  being  some  distance, 
and  the  weather  very  hot,  I  was  much  spent  with 
walking. 

When  we  arrived,  the  ship  was  not  there;  so  we 
were  obliged  to  go  to  the  town  and  take  shipping. 
When  we  were  on  board,  I  said  to  the  rest  of  my 
company,  "  Come,  ye  will  triumph  in  the  Lord,  for 
we  shall  have  fair  wind  and  weather." 

*  1669. 


464         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

Many  passengers  in  the  ship  were  sick,  but  not  one 
of  our  company.  The  captain  and  many  of  the  pas- 
sengers were  very  loving;  and  we  being  at  sea  on  the 
first  day  of  the  week,  I  was  moved  to  declare  Truth 
among  them;  whereupon  the  captain  said  to  the  pas- 
sengers, "  Here  are  things  that  you  never  heard  in 
your  lives." 

When  we  came  before  Dublin,  we  took  boat  and 
went  ashore;  and  the  earth  and  air  smelt,  methought, 
of  the  corruption  of  the  nation,  so  that  it  yielded  an- 
other smell  to  me  than  England  did ;  which  I  imputed 
to  the  Popish  massacres  that  had  been  committed, 
and  the  blood  that  had  been  spilt  in  it,  from  which  a 
foulness  ascended. 

We  passed  through  among  the  officers  of  the  cus- 
tom four  times,  yet  they  did  not  search  us;  for  they 
perceived  what  we  were:  some  of  them  were  so  en- 
vious they  did  not  care  to  look  at  us. 

We  did  not  soon  find  Eriends;  but  went  to  an  inn, 
and  sent  out  to  inquire  for  some.  These,  when  they 
came  to  us,  were  exceedingly  glad  of  our  coming,  and 
received  us  with  great  joy. 

We  stayed  there  the  weekly  meeting,  which  was  a 
large  one,  and  the  power  and  life  of  God  appeared 
greatly  in  it.  Afterwards  we  passed  to  a  province 
meeting,  which  lasted  two  days,  there  being  one  about 
the  poor,  and  another  meeting  more  general;  in 
w^hich  a  mighty  power  of  the  Lord  appeared.  Truth 
was  livingly  declared,  and  Friends  were  much  re- 
freshed therein. 

Passing  thence  about  four  and  twenty  miles,  we 
came  to  another  place,  where  we  had  a  very  good, 


At  the  Work  of  Organizing.  465 


refreshing  meeting;  but  after  it  some  Papists  that 
were  there  were  angry,  and  raged  very  much.  When 
I  heard  of  it,  I  sent  for  one  of  them,  who  was  a 
schoolmaster;  but  he  would  not  come. 

Thereupon  I  sent  a  challenge  to  him,  with  all  the 
friars  and  monks,  priests  and  Jesuits,  to  come  forth, 
and  "  try  their  God  and  their  Christ,  which  they  had 
made  of  bread  and  wine,"  but  no  answer  could  I  get 
from  them.  I  told  them  they  were  worse  than  the 
priests  of  Baal;  for  Baal's  priests  tried  their  wooden 
god,  but  these  durst  not  try  their  god  of  bread  and 
wine;  and  Baal's  priests  and  people  did  not  eat  their 
god  as  these  did,  and  then  make  another. 

He  that  was  then  mayor  of  Cork,  being  very  en- 
vious against  Truth  and  Friends,  had  many  Friends 
in  prison.  Knowing  I  was  in  the  country,  he  sent 
four  warrants  to  take  me;  therefore  Friends  were  de- 
sirous that  I  should  not  ride  through  Cork.  But, 
being  at  Bandon,  there  appeared  to  me  in  a  vision  a 
very  ugly-visaged  man,  of  a  black  and  dark  look.  My 
spirit  struck  at  him  in  the  power  of  God,  and  it 
seemed  to  me  that  I  rode  over  him  with  my  horse, 
and  my  horse  set  his  foot  on  the  side  of  his  face. 

When  I  came  down  in  the  morning,  I  told  a  friend 
the  command  of  the  Lord  to  me  was  to  ride  through 
Cork;  but  I  bade  him  tell  no  man.  So  we  took  horse, 
many  Friends  being  with  me. 

When  we  came  near  the  town.  Friends  would  have 
shown  me  a  way  through  the  back  side  of  it;  but  I 
told  them  my  way  was  through  the  streets.  Taking 
Paul  Morrice  to  guide  me  through  the  town,  I  rode 
on. 


466         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


As  we  rode  through  the  market-place,  and  by  the 
mayor's  door,  he,  seeing  mc,  said,  "  There  goes 
George  Fox " ;  but  he  had  not  power  to  stop  me. 
When  we  had  passed  the  sentinels,  and  were  come 
over  the  bridge,  we  went  to  a  Friend's  house  and 
alighted.  There  the  Friends  told  me  what  a  rage 
was  in  the  town,  and  how  many  warrants  were  grant- 
ed to  take  me. 

While  I  was  sitting  there  I  felt  the  evil  spirit  at 
work  in  the  town,  stirring  up  mischief  against  me; 
and  I  felt  the  power  of  the  Lord  strike  at  that  evil 
spirit. 

By-and-by  some  other  friends  coming  in,  told  me 
it  was  over  the  town,  and  amongst  the  magistrates 
that  I  was  in  the  town.  I  said,  "  Let  the  devil  do  his 
worst."  After  we  had  refreshed  ourselves,  I  called 
for  my  horse,  and  having  a  Friend  to  guide  me,  we 
went  on  our  way. 

Great  was  the  rage  that  the  mayor  and  others  of 
Cork  were  in  that  they  had  missed  me,  and  great 
pains  they  afterwards  took  to  catch  me,  having  their 
scouts  abroad  upon  the  roads,  as  I  understood,  to  ob- 
serve which  way  I  went.  Scarce  a  public  meeting 
I  came  to,  but  spies  came  to  watch  if  I  were  there. 
The  magistrates  and  priests  sent  informations  one  to 
another  concerning  me,  describing  me  by  my  hair, 
hat,  clothes  and  horse;  so  that  when  I  was  near  an 
hundred  miles  from  Cork  they  had  an  account  con- 
cerning me  and  a  description  of  me  before  I  came 
amongst  them. 

One  very  envious  magistrate,  who  was  both  a 
priest  and  a  justice,  got  a  warrant  from  the  judge  of 


At  the  Work  of  Organizing. 


467 


assize  to  apprehend  me.  The  warrant  was  to  go  over 
all  his  circuit,  which  reached  near  an  hundred  miles. 
Yet  the  Lord  disappointed  all  their  councils,  defeated 
all  their  designs  against  me,  and  by  His  good  hand  of 
Providence  preserved  me  out  of  all  their  snares,  and 
gave  us  many  sweet  and  blessed  opportunities  to  visit 
Friends,  and  spread  Truth  through  that  nation. 

For  meetings  were  very  large.  Friends  coming  to 
them  from  far  and  near;  and  other  people  flocking  in. 
The  powerful  presence  of  the  Lord  was  preciously 
felt  amongst  us.  Many  of  the  world  were  reached, 
convinced,  and  gathered  to  the  Truth;  the  Lord's 
flock  was  increased;  and  Friends  were  greatly  re- 
freshed and  comforted  in  feeling  the  love  of  God. 
Oh  the  brokenness  that  was  amongst  them  in  the 
flowings  of  life !  so  that,  in  the  power  and  Spirit  of 
the  Lord,  many  together  broke  out  into  singing,  even 
with  audible  voices,  making  melody  in  their  hearts. 

After  I  had  travelled  over  Ireland,  and  visited 
Friends  in  their  meetings,  as  well  for  business  as  for 
worship,  and  had  answered  several  papers  and  writ- 
ings from  monks,  friars,  and  Protestant  priests  (for 
they  were  all  in  a  rage  against  us,  and  endeavoured 
to  stop  the  work  of  the  Lord,  and  some  Jesuits  swore 
in  our  hearing  that  we  had  come  to  spread  our  princi- 
ples in  that  nation,  but  should  not  do  it),  I  returned 
to  Dublin,  in  order  to  take  passage  for  England.  I 
stayed  to  the  First-day's  meeting  there,  which  was 
very  large  and  precious. 

There  being  a  ship  ready,  and  the  wind  serving, 
we  took  our  leave  of  Friends;  parting  in  much  ten- 
derness and  brokeimess,  in  the  sense  of  the  heavenly 


468         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

life  and  power  manifested  amongst  us.  Having  put 
our  horses  and  necessaries  on  board  in  the  morning, 
we  went  ourselves  in  the  afternoon,  many  Friends  ac- 
companying us  to  the  ship;  and  divers  Friends  and 
Friendly  people  followed  us  in  boats  when  we  were 
near  a  league  at  sea,  their  love  drawing  them,  though 
not  without  danger. 

A  good,  weighty,  and  true  people  there  is  in  that 
nation,  sensible  of  the  power  of  the  Lord  God,  and 
tender  of  His  truth.  Very  good  order  they  have  in 
their  meetings;  for  they  stand  up  for  righteousness 
and  holiness,  which  dams  up  the  way  of  wickedness. 
A  precious  visitation  they  had,  and  there  is  an  excel- 
lent spirit  in  them,  worthy  to  be  visited.  Many 
things  more  I  could  write  of  that  nation,  and  of  my 
travels  in  it ;  but  thus  much  I  thought  good  to  signify, 
that  the  righteous  may  rejoice  in  the  prosperity  of 
truth. 

We  travelled  till  we  came  to  Bristol,  where  I  met 
with  Margaret  Fell,  who  was  come  to  visit  her  daugh- 
ter Yeomans. 

I  had  seen  from  the  Lord  a  considerable  time  be- 
fore, that  I  should  take  Margaret  Fell  to  be  my  wife. 
And  when  I  first  mentioned  it  to  her,  she  felt  the  an- 
swer of  Life  from  God  thereunto.  But  though  the 
Lord  had  opened  this  thing  to  me,  yet  I  had  not  re- 
ceived a  command  from  the  Lord  for  the  accomplish- 
ing of  it  then.  Wherefore  I  let  the  thing  rest,  and 
went  on  in  the  work  and  service  of  the  Lord  as  be- 
fore, according  as  he  led  me;  travelling  up  and  down 
in  this  nation,  and  through  Ireland, 

But  now  being  at  Bristol,  and  finding  Margaret 


At  the  Work  of  Organizing. 


469 


Fell  there,  it  opened  in  me  from  the  Lord  that  the 
thing  should  be  accomplished.  After  we  had  dis- 
coursed the  matter  together,  I  told  her,  if  she  also 
was  satisfied  with  the  accomplishing  of  it  now,  she 
should  first  send  for  her  children;  which  she  did. 
When  the  rest  of  her  daughters  were  come,  I  asked 
both  them  and  her  sons-in-law  if  they  had  anything 
against  it,  or  for  it ;  and  they  all  severally  expressed 
their  satisfaction  therein. 

Then  I  asked  Margaret  if  she  had  fulfilled  and  per- 
formed her  husband's  will  to  her  children.  She  re- 
plied, "  The  children  know  that."  Whereupon  I 
asked  them  whether,  if  their  mother  married,  they 
would  lose  by  it.  And  I  asked  Margaret  whether 
she  had  done  anything  in  lieu  of  it,  which  might  an- 
swer it  to  the  children. 

The  children  said  she  had  answered  it  to  them,  and 
desired  me  to  speak  no  more  of  it.  I  told  them  I  was 
plain,  and  would  have  all  things  done  plainly;  for  I 
sought  not  any  outward  advantage  to  myself. 

So,  after  I  had  thus  acquainted  the  children  with 
it,  our  intention  of  marriage  was  laid  before  Friends, 
both  privately  and  publicly,  to  their  full  satisfaction. 
Many  of  them  gave  testimony  thereunto  that  it  was 
of  God.  Afterwards,  a  meeting  being  appointed  for 
the  accomplishing  thereof,  in  the  meeting-house  at 
Broad-Mead,  in  Bristol,  we  took  each  other,  the  Lord 
joining  us  together  in  honourable  marriage,  in  the 
everlasting  covenant  and  immortal  Seed  of  life.  In 
the  sense  thereof  living  and  weighty  testimonies  were 
borne  thereunto  by  Friends,  in  the  movings  of  the 


470         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

heavenly  power  which  united  us.^  Then  was  a  certifi- 
cate, relating  both  the  proceedings  and  the  marriage, 
openly  read,  and  signed  by  the  relations,  and  by  most 
of  the  ancient  Friends  of  that  city,  besides  many  oth- 
ers from  divers  parts  of  the  nation. 

We  stayed  about  a  week  in  Bristol,  and  then  went 
together  to  Oldstone:  where,  taking  leave  of  each 
other  in  the  Lord,  we  parted,  betaking  ourselves  each 
to  our  several  service;  Margaret  returning  home- 
wards to  the  north,  and  I  passing  on  in  the  work  of 
the  Lord  as  before.  I  travelled  through  Wiltshire, 
Berkshire,  Oxfordshire,  Buckinghamshire,  and  so  to 
London,  visiting  Friends:  in  all  of  which  counties  I 
had  many  large  and  precious  meetings,* 

[In  1670  the  so-called  Conventicle  Act,  originally 
passed  in  1664,  was  renewed  with  increased  vigor.  The 
Act  limited  religious  gatherings,  other  than  those  of  the 
Established  Church,  to  five  persons,  and  brought  all 
who  refused  to  take  an  oath  under  the  penalties  of  the 
Act.] 


^  The  "  Bristol  Eegister  of  Friends  "  shows  the  date 
of  the  marriage  of  George  Fox  to  Margaret  Fell  to  have 
been  "  Eighth  month  "  27th,  1669. 

*  During  the  next  four  years  George  Fox  and  his 
wife  were  almost  continually  separated  from  each 
other.  About  three  months  after  their  marria,ge  Mar- 
garet Fox  was  thrown  into  Lancaster  prison,  where  she 
was  kept  until  a  few  weeks  before  her  husband  sailed 
on  his  memorable  trip  to  the  West  Indies  and  the 
American  colonies. 


At  ihe  Work  of  Organizing.  471 

On  the  First-day  after  the  Act  came  in  force,  I 
went  to  the  meeting  at  Gracechurch  Street,  where  I 
expected  the  storm  was  most  likely  to  begin. 

When  I  came  there,  I  found  the  street  full  of  peo- 
ple, and  a  guard  set  to  keep  Friends  out  of  their  meet- 
ing-house. I  went  to  the  other  passage  out  of  Lom- 
bard street,  where  also  I  found  a  guard;  but  the  court 
was  full  of  people,  and  a  Friend  was  speaking 
amongst  them;  but  he  did  not  speak  long. 

When  he  had  done,  I  stood  up,  and  was  moved  to 
say,  "Saul,  Saul,  why  persecutest  thou  me?  it  is 
hard  for  thee  to  kick  against  that  which  pricks 
thee."  Then  I  showed  that  it  is  Saul's  nature  that 
persecutes  still,  and  that  they  who  persecute  Christ 
in  His  members  now,  where  He  is  made  manifest, 
kick  against  that  which  pricks  them;  that  it  was  the 
birth  of  the  flesh  that  persecuted  the  birth  bom  of 
the  Spirit,  and  that  it  was  the  nature  of  dogs  to  tear 
and  devour  the  sheep;  but  that  we  suffered  as  sheep, 
that  bite  not  again,  for  we  were  a  peaceable  people, 
and  loved  them  that  persecuted  us. 

After  I  had  spoken  a  while  to  this  effect,  the  con- 
stable came  with  an  informer  and  soldiers;  and  as 
they  pulled  me  down,  I  said,  "  Blessed  are  the  peace- 
makers." 

The  commander  put  me  among  the  soldiers,  and 
bade  them  secure  me,  saying  to  me,  "  You  are  the 
man  I  looked  for,"  They  took  also  John  Bumyeat 
and  another  Friend,  and  led  us  away,  first  to  the  Ex- 
change, and  afterwards  towards  Moorfields.  As  we 
went  along  the  streets  the  people  were  very  moder- 


472         George  Fox:  An  Autoiiography. 


ate;  some  of  them  laughed  at  the  constable,  and  told 
him  we  would  not  run  away. 

The  informer  went  with  us  unknown,  till,  falling 
into  discourse  with  one  of  the  company,  he  said  it 
would  never  be  a  good  world  till  all  people  came  to 
the  good  old  religion  that  was  two  hundred  years  ago. 
Whereupon  I  asked  him,  "  Art  thou  a  Papist  ?  What ! 
a  Papist  informer;  for  two  hundred  years  ago  there 
was  no  other  religion  but  that  of  the  Papists." 

He  saw  he  had  ensnared  himself,  and  was  vexed  at 
it;  for  as  he  went  along  the  streets  I  spoke  often  to 
him,  and  manifested  what  he  was. 

When  we  were  come  to  the  mayor's  house,  and 
were  in  the  courtyard,  several  of  the  people  that 
stood  about,  asked  me  how  and  for  what  I  was  taken. 
I  desired  them  to  ask  the  informer,  and  also  what  his 
name  was;  but  he  refused  to  tell  his  name.  Where- 
upon one  of  the  mayor's  officers,  looking  out  at  a  win- 
dow, told  him  he  should  tell  his  name  before  he  went 
away;  for  the  lord  mayor  would  know  by  what  au- 
thority he  intruded  himself  Avith  soldiers  into  the 
execution  of  those  laws  which  belonged  to  the  civil 
magistrate  to  execute,  and  not  to  the  military. 

After  this,  he  was  eager  to  be  gone;  and  went  to 
the  porter  to  be  let  out.  One  of  the  officers  called  to 
him,  saying,  "  Have  you  brought  people  here  to  in- 
form against,  and  now  will  you  go  away  before  my 
lord  mayor  comes  ?  "  Some  called  to  the  porter  not 
to  let  him  out;  whereupon  he  forcibly  pulled  open  the 
door  and  slipped  out. 

'No  sooner  was  he  come  into  the  street  than  the 
people  gave  a  shout  that  made  the  street  ring  again. 


At  the  Work  of  Organizing.  473 


crying  out,  "  A  Papist  informer !  a  Papist  in- 
former !  "  We  desired  the  constable  and  soldiers  to 
go  and  rescue  him  out  of  the  people's  hands,  fearing 
lest  they  should  do  him  a  mischief. 

They  went,  and  brought  him  into  the  mayor's  en- 
try, where  they  stayed  a  while ;  but  when  he  went  out 
again,  the  people  received  him  with  another  shout. 
The  soldiers  were  fain  to  go  and  rescue  him  once 
more,  and  they  led  him  into  a  house  in  an  alley, 
where  they  persuaded  him  to  change  his  periwig,  and 
so  he  got  away  imknown. 

When  the  mayor  came,  we  were  brought  into  the 
room  where  he  was,  and  some  of  his  officers  would 
have  taken  off  our  hats,  perceiving  which  he  called  to 
them,  and  bade  them  let  us  alone,  and  not  meddle 
with  our  hats;  "for,"  said  he,  "they  are  not  yet 
brought  before  me  in  judicature."  So  we  stood  by 
while  he  examined  some  Presbyterian  and  Baptist 
teachers;  with  whom  he  was  somewhat  sharp,  and 
convicted  them. 

After  he  had  done  with  them,  I  was  brought  up  to 
the  table  where  he  sat;  and  then  the  officers  took  off 
my  hat.  The  mayor  said  mildly  to  me,  "  Mr.  Fox, 
you  are  an  eminent  man  amongst  those  of  your  pro- 
fession; pray,  will  you  be  instrumental  to  dissuade 
them  from  meeting  in  such  great  numbers  ?  for,  see- 
ing Christ  hath  promised  that  where  two  or  three  are 
met  in  His  name,  lie  will  be  in  the  midst  of  them, 
and  the  King  and  Parliament  are  graciously  pleased 
to  allow  four  to  meet  together  to  worship  God ;  why 
will  not  you  be  content  to  partake  both  of  Christ's 


474         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


promise  to  two  or  three,  and  the  King's  indulgence 
to  four?'"* 

I  answered  to  this  purpose :  "  Christ's  promise  was 
not  to  discourage  many  from  meeting  together  in  His 
name,  but  to  encourage  the  few,  that  the  fewest 
might  not  forbear  to  meet  because  of  their  fewness. 
But  if  Christ  hath  promised  to  manifest  His  presence 
in  the  midst  of  so  small  an  assembly,  where  but  two 
or  three  are  gathered  in  His  name,  how  much  more 
would  His  presence  abound  where  two  or  three  hun- 
dred are  gathered  in  His  name  ?  " 

I  wished  him  to  consider  whether  this  Act,  if  it  had 
been  in  their  time,  would  not  have  taken  hold  of 
Christ,  with  His  twelve  apostles  and  seventy  disci- 
ples, who  used  to  meet  often  together,  and  that  with 
great  numbers?  However,  I  told  him  this  Act 
did  not  concern  us;  for  it  was  made  against  seditious 
meetings,  of  such  as  met  under  colour  and  pretence 
of  religion  "  to  contrive  insurrections,  as  [the  Act 
says]  late  experience  had  shown."  But  we  had  been 
sufEciently  tried  and  proved,  and  always  found  peace- 
able, and  therefore  he  would  do  well  to  put  a  differ- 
ence between  the  innocent  and  the  guilty. 

He  said  the  Act  was  made  against  meetings,  and  a 
worship  not  according  to  the  liturgy. 

I  told  him  "  according  to  "  was  not  the  very  same 
thing;  and  asked  him  whether  the  liturgy  was  accord- 


In  a  very  keen  letter  Fox  told  the  magistrates  that 
this  act  would  have  prevented  the  twelve  apostles  and 
the  seventy  disciples  from  meeting! 


At  the  Wovk  of  Organizing.  475 


ing  to  the  Scriptures,  and  whether  we  might  not  read 
Scriptures  and  speak  Scriptures. 
He  said, "  Yes." 

I  told  him,  "  This  Act  takes  hold  only  of  such  as 
meet  to  plot  and  contrive  insurrections,  as  late  ex- 
perience hath  shown;  but  they  have  never  experi- 
enced that  by  us.  Because  thieves  are  sometimes  on 
the  road,  must  not  honest  men  travel  ?  And  because 
plotters  and  contrivers  have  met  to  do  mischief,  must 
not  an  honest,  peaceable  people  meet  to  do  good  ?  If 
we  had  been  a  people  that  met  to  plot  and  contrive 
insurrections,  etc.,  we  might  have  drawn  ourselves 
into  fours;  for  four  might  do  more  mischief  in  plot- 
ting than  if  there  were  four  hundred,  because  four 
might  speak  out  their  minds  more  freely  to  one  an- 
other than  four  hundred  could.  Therefore  we,  being 
innocent,  and  not  the  people  this  Act  concerns,  keep 
our  meetings  as  we  used  to  do.  I  believe  thou  know- 
est  in  thy  conscience  that  we  are  innocent." 

After  some  more  discourse,  he  took  our  names,  and 
the  places  where  we  lodged;  and  at  length,  as  the  in- 
former was  gone,  he  set  us  at  liberty. 

The  Friends  with  me  now  asked,  "  Whither  wilt 
thou  go  ? "  I  told  them,  "  To  Gracechurch  street 
meeting  again,  if  it  is  not  over." 

When  we  came  there,  the  people  were  generally 
gone;  only  some  few  stood  at  the  gate.  We  went 
into  Gerrard  Eoberts's.  Thence  I  sent  to  know  how 
the  other  meetings  in  the  city  were.  I  found  that  at 
some  of  the  meeting-places  Friends  had  been  kept 
out;  at  others  they  had  been  taken;  but  these  were 
set  at  liberty  again  a  few  days  after. 


476         George  Fox-.  An  Autobiography. 

A  glorious  time  it  was;  for  the  Lord's  power  came 
over  all,  and  His  everlasting  truth  got  renown.  For 
in  the  meetings,  as  fast  as  some  that  were  speaking 
were  taken  down,  others  were  moved  of  the  Lord  to 
stand  up  and  speak,  to  the  admiration  of  the  people; 
and  the  more  because  many  Baptists  and  other  sec- 
taries left  their  public  meetings,  and  came  to  see  how 
the  Quakers  would  stand. 

As  for  the  informer  aforesaid,  he  was  so  frightened 
that  hardly  any  informer  dared  to  appear  publicly  in 
London  for  some  time  after.  But  the  mayor,  whose 
name  was  Samuel  Starling,  though  he  carried  him- 
self smoothly  towards  us,  proved  afterwards  a  very 
great  persecutor  of  our  Friends,  many  of  whom  he 
cast  into  prison,  as  may  be  seen  in  the  trials  of  Wil- 
liam Penn,  William  Mead,  and  others,  at  the  Old 
Bailey  this  year.^ 

As  I  was  walking  down  a  hill,*  a  great  weight  and 
oppression  fell  upon  my  spirit.  I  got  on  my  horse 
again,  but  the  weight  remained  so  that  I  was  hardly 
able  to  ride. 

*  Near  Rochester. 


®  This  trial  at  the  Old  Bailey  is  reported  in  full  in 
the  Preface  to  the  Works  of  William  Penn.  It  is  one 
of  the  most  interesting  episodes  in  his  life,  and,  from 
a  legal  point  of  view,  it  is  one  of  the  most  important 
jury  trials  of  that  century.  William  Penn  had  thrown 
in  his  lot  with  the  Quakers  definitely  in  1666,  though 
he  had  been  influenced  by  the  preaching  of  Thomas 
Loe  while  he  was  a  student  in  Oxford  University  in 
1659. 


At  the  Work  of  Organizing. 


477 


At  length  we  came  to  Rochester,  but  I  was  much 
spent,  being  so  extremely  laden  and  burthened  with 
the  world's  spirits,  that  my  life  was  oppressed  under 
them.  I  got  with  difficulty  to  Gravesend,  and  lay  at 
an  inn  there;  but  could  hardly  either  eat  or  sleep. 

The  next  day  John  Rous  and  Alexander  Parker- 
went  to  London ;  and  John  Stubbs  being  come  to  me, 
we  went  over  the  ferry  into  Essex.  We  came  to 
Hornchurch,  where  there  was  a  meeting  on  First-day. 
After  it  I  rode  with  great  uneasiness  to  Stratford,  to 
a  Friend's  house,  whose  name  was  Williams,  and  who 
had  formerly  been  a  captain.  Here  I  lay,  exceed- 
ingly weak,  and  at  last  lost  both  hearing  and  sight. 
Several  Friends  came  to  me  from  London:  and  I  told 
them  that  I  should  be  a  sign  to  such  as  would  not 
see,  and  such  as  would  not  hear  the  Truth.' 

In  this  condition  I  continued  some  time.  Several 
came  about  me ;  and  though  I  could  not  see  their  per- 
sons, I  felt  and  discerned  their  spirits,  who  were  hon- 
est-hearted, and  who  were  not.  Divers  Friends  who 
practised  physic  came  to  see  me,  and  would  have  given 
me  medicines,  but  I  was  not  to  meddle  with  any;  for 
I  was  sensible  I  had  a  travail  to  go  through;  and 
therefore  desired  none  but  solid,  weighty  Friends 
might  be  about  me. 

Under  great  sufferings  and  travails,  sorrows  and 
oppressions,  I  lay  for  several  weeks,  whereby  I  was 
brought  so  low  and  weak  in  body  that  few  thought  I 

^  This  is  another  of  the  times  in  Fox's  life  when  he 
underwent  serious  physical  changes  as  a  result  of  psy- 
chical disturbance. 


478         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


could  live.  Some  that  were  with  me  went  away,  say- 
ing they  would  not  see  me  die;  and  it  was  reported 
both  in  London  and  in  the  country  that  I  was  de- 
ceased ;  but  I  felt  the  Lord's  power  inwardly  support- 
ing me. 

When  they  that  were  about  me  had  given  me  up  to 
die,  I  spoke  to  them  to  get  a  coach  to  carry  me  to 
Gerrard  Eoberts's,  about  twelve  miles  off,  for  I  found 
it  was  my  place  to  go  thither.  I  had  now  recovered 
a  little  glimmering  of  sight,  so  that  I  could  discern 
the  people  and  fields  as  I  went,  and  that  was  all. 

When  I  came  to  Gerrard's,  he  was  very  weak,  and 
I  was  moved  to  speak  to  him,  and  encourage  him. 
After  I  had  stayed  about  three  weeks  there,  it  was 
with  me  to  go  to  Enfield.  Friends  were  afraid  of  my 
removing;  but  I  told  them  I  might  safely  go. 

When  I  had  taken  my  leave  of  Gerrard,  and  was 
come  to  Enfield,  I  went  first  to  visit  Amor  Stoddart, 
who  lay  very  weak  and  almost  speechless.  I  was 
moved  to  tell  him  that  he  had  been  faithful  as  a  man, 
and  faithful  to  God,  and  that  the  immortal  Seed  of 
life  was  his  crown.  Many  more  words  I  was  moved 
to  speak  to  him,  though  I  was  then  so  weak  I  was 
hardly  able  to  stand;  and  within  a  few  days  after, 
Amor  died. 

I  went  to  the  widow  Dry's,  at  Enfield,  where  I  lay 
all  that  winter,  warring  in  spirit  with  the  evil  spirits 
of  the  world,  that  warred  against  Truth  and  Friends. 
For  there  were  great  persecutions  at  this  time;  some 
meeting-houses  were  pulled  down,  and  many  were 
broken  up  by  soldiers.  Sometimes  a  troop  of  horse, 
or  a  company  of  foot  came;  and  some  broke  their 


At  the  Work  of  Organising. 


479 


ewok^s,  carbines,  muskets,  and  pikes,  with  beating 
Friends;  and  many  they  wounded,  so  that  their  blood 
lay  in  the  streets. 

Amongst  others  that  were  active  in  this  cruel  per- 
secution at  London,  my  old  adversary,  Colonel  Kirby, 
was  one.  With  a  company  of  foot,  he  went  to  break 
up  several  meetings;  and  he  would  often  inquire  for 
me  at  the  meetings  he  broke  up.  One  time  as  he 
went  over  the  water  to  Horsleydown,  there  happen- 
ing some  scuffle  between  some  of  his  soldiers  and 
some  of  the  watermen,  he  bade  his  men  fire  at  them. 
They  did  so,  and  killed  some. 

I  was  under  great  sufferings  at  this  time,  beyond 
what  I  have  words  to  declare.  For  I  was  brought 
into  the  deep,  and  saw  all  the  religions  of  the  world, 
and  people  that  lived  in  them.  And  I  saw  the  priests 
that  held  them  up;  who  were  as  a  company  of  men- 
eaters,  eating  up  the  people  like  bread,  and  gnawing 
the  flesh  from  off  their  bones.  But  as  for  true  relig- 
ion, and  worship,  and  ministers  of  God,  alack !  I  saw 
there  was  none  amongst  those  of  the  world  that  pre- 
tended to  it. 

Though  it  was  a  cruel,  bloody,  persecuting  time, 
yet  the  Lord's  power  went  over  all,  His  everlasting 
Seed  prevailed;  and  Friends  were  made  to  stand  firm 
and  faithful  in  the  Lord's  power.  Some  sober  people 
of  other  professions  would  say,  "  If  Friends  did  not 
stand,  the  nation  would  run  into  debauchery." 

Though  by  reason  of  my  weakness  I  could  not 
travel  amongst  Friends  as  I  had  been  used  to  do,  yet 
in  the  motion  of  life  I  sent  the  following  lines  as  an 
encouraging  testimony  to  them: 


480         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


"  My  dear  Friends: 

"  The  Seed  is  above  all.  In  it  walk;  in  which  ye 
all  have  life. 

"Be  not  amazed  at  the  weather;  for  always  the 
just  suffered  by  the  unjust,  but  the  just  had  the  do- 
minion. 

"  All  along  ye  may  see,  by  faith  the  mountains 
were  subdued;  and  the  rage  of  the  \vicked,  with  his 
fiery  darts,  was  quenched.  Though  the  waves  and 
storms  be  high,  yet  your  faith  will  keep  you,  so 
as  to  swim  above  them ;  for  they  are  but  for  a  time, 
and  the  Truth  is  without  time.  Therefore  keep  on 
the  mountain  of  holiness,  ye  who  are  led  to  it  by 
the  Light. 

"  Do  not  think  that  anything  will  outlast  the 
Truth.  For  the  Truth  standeth  sure;  and  is  over  that 
which  is  out  of  the  Truth,  For  the  good  will  over- 
come the  evil;  the  light,  darkness;  the  life,  death; 
virtue,  vice;  and  righteousness,  unrighteousness.  The 
false  prophet  cannot  overcome  the  true ;  but  the  true 
prophet,  Christ,  will  overcome  all  the  false. 

"  So  be  faithful,  and  live  in  that  which  doth  not 
think  the  time  long.  G.  F." 

After  some  time  it  pleased  the  Lord  to  allay  the 
heat  of  this  violent  persecution;  and  I  felt  in  spirit 
an  overcoming  of  the  spirits  of  those  men-eaters  that 
had  stirred  it  up  and  carried  it  on  to  that  height  of 
cruelty.  I  was  outwardly  very  weak;  and  I  plainly 
felt,  and  those  Friends  that  were  with  me,  and  that 
came  to  visit  me,  took  notice,  that  as  the  persecution 
ceased  I  came  from  under  the  travails  and  sufferings 


At  the  Worh  of  Organizing.  481 


that  had  lain  with  such  weight  upon  me;  so  that  to- 
wards the  spring  I  began  to  recover,  and  to  walk  up 
and  down,  beyond  the  expectation  of  many,  who  did 
not  think  I  could  ever  have  gone  abroad  again. 

Whilst  I  was  under  this  spiritual  suffering  the  state 
of  the  New  Jerusalem  which  comes  down  out  of 
heaven  was  opened  to  me ;  which  some  carnal-minded 
people  had  looked  upon  to  be  like  an  outward  city 
dropped  out  of  the  elements.  I  saw  the  beauty  and 
glory  of  it,  the  length,  the  breadth,  and  the  height 
thereof,  all  in  complete  proportion.  I  saw  that  all 
who  are  within  the  Light  of  Christ,  and  in  His  faith, 
of  which  He  is  the  author;  and  in  the  Spirit,  the  Holy 
Ghost,  which  Christ  and  the  holy  prophets  and  apos- 
tles were  in;  and  within  the  grace,  and  truth,  and 
power  of  God,  which  are  the  walls  of  the  city; — I 
saw  that  such  are  within  the  city,  are  members  of  it, 
and  have  right  to  eat  of  the  Tree  of  Life,  which 
yields  her  fruit  every  month,  and  whose  leaves  are 
for  the  healing  of  the  nations. 

Many  things  more  did  I  see  concerning  the  heav- 
enly city,  the  New  Jerusalem,  which  are  hard  to  be 
uttered,  and  would  be  hard  to  be  received.  But,  in 
short,  this  holy  city  is  within  the  Light,  and  all  that 
are  within  the  Light,  are  within  the  city;  the  gates 
whereof  stand  open  all  the  day  (for  there  is  no  night 
there),  that  all  may  come  in. 


CHAPTEE  XVIII. 

Wma  gears  in  America, 

1671-1673. 

When  I  received  notice  of  my  wife's  being  taken 
to  prison  again/  I  sent  two  of  her  daughters  to  the 
King,  and  they  procured  his  order  to  the  sheriff  of 
Lancashire  for  her  discharge.  But  though  I  expected 
she  would  have  been  set  at  liberty,  yet  this  violent 
storm  of  persecution  coming  suddenly  on,  the  perse- 
cutors there  found  means  to  hold  her  still  in  prison. 

But  now  the  persecution  a  little  ceasing,  I  was 
moved  to  speak  to  Martha  Fisher,  and  another  wo- 
man Friend,  to  go  to  the  King  about  her  liberty. 
They  went  in  the  faith,  and  in  the  Lord's  power;  and 
He  gave  them  favour  with  the  King,  so  that  he  grant- 
ed a  discharge  under  the  broad  seal,  to  clear  both  her 
and  her  estate,  after  she  had  been  ten  years  a  pris- 
oner, and  prsemunired ;  the  like  whereof  was  scarce 
to  be  heard  in  England. 

I  sent  down  the  discharge  forthwith  by  a  Friend; 
by  whom  also  I  wrote  to  her,  to  inform  her  how  to 
get  it  delivered  to  the  justices,  and  also  to  acquaint 


*  This  was  in  1669,  about  three  months  after  their 
marriage.  The  sentence  of  prcemunire  was  passed 
against  Margaret  Fell  in  1663,  so  that  for  about  seven 
(Fox  says  ten)  years  she  was  the  King's  prisoner,  and 
her  estate  was  in  jeopardy. 


Two  Years  in  America,  483 


her  that  it  was  upon  me  from  the  Lord  to  go  beyond 
sea,  to  visit  the  plantations  in  America ;  and  therefore 
I  desired  her  to  hasten  to  London,  as  soon  as  she 
could  conveniently  after  she  had  obtained  her  lib- 
erty, because  the  ship  was  then  fitting  for  the  voyage. 

In  the  meantime  I  got  to  Kingston,  and  stayed  at 
John  Kous's  till  my  wife  came  up,  and  then  I  began 
to  prepare  for  the  voyage.  But  the  yearly  meeting  " 
being  near  at  hand,  I  tarried  till  that  was  over. 
Many  Friends  came  up  to  it  from  all  parts  of  the  na- 
tion, and  a  very  large  and  precious  meeting  it  was; 
for  the  Lord's  power  was  over  all,  and  His  glorious, 
everlastingly-renowned  Seed  of  Life  was  exalted 
above  all. 

After  this  meeting  was  over,  and  I  had  finished  my 
services  for  the  Lord  in  England,  the  ship  and  the 

^  He  speaks  of  "  the  yearly  meeting  "  as  though  it 
were  a  well-established  institution.  Norman  Penney 
has  sent  me  an  interesting  extract  from  Barclay's  "  Let- 
ters of  the  Early  Friends,"  which  traces  the  develop- 
ment of  the  yearly  meeting: 

"  There  was  a  yearly  meeting  settled  at  Skipton  in 
Yorkshire  for  all  the  northern  and  southern  countries, 
.  .  .  .  and  then  the  yearly  meeting  was  removed  to 
John  Crooks, .  .  .  and  afterwards  the  yearly  meeting  was 
kept  at  Bailey,  in  Yorkshire,  and  likewise  at  Skipton, 
in  the  year  1660.  And  from  thence  it  was  moved  to 
London  the  next  year,  where  it  hath  been  kept  ever 
since,"  p.  313  from  a  document  said  to  have  been  by 
George  Fox,  but  only  since  1672  has  it  been  held  in 
London  without  intermission.  The  series  of  yearly 
meeting  minutes  commences  23d  of  Third  month,  1671. 


484         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


Friends  that  intended  to  go  with  me  being  ready,  I 
went  to  Gravesend  on  the  12th  of  Sixth  month,^  my 
wife  and  several  Friends  accompanying  me  to  the 
Downs. 

We  went  from  Wapping  in  a  barge  to  the  ship, 
which  lay  a  little  below  Gravesend,  and  there  we 
found  the  Friends  that  were  bound  for  the  voyage 
with  me,  who  had  gone  down  to  the  ship  the  night 
before.  Their  names  were  Thomas  Briggs,  William 
Edmundson,  John  Eous,  John  Stubbs,  Solomon  Ec- 
cles,  James  Lancaster,  John  Cartwright,  Eobert  Wid- 
ders,  George  Pattison,  John  Hull,  Elizabeth  Hooton, 
and  Elizabeth  Miers.  The  vessel  was  a  yacht,  called 
the  Industry;  the  captain's  name  Thomas  Forster, 
and  the  number  of  passengers  about  fifty. 

I  lay  that  night  on  board,  but  most  of  the  Friends 
at  Gravesend.  Early  next  morning  the  passengers, 
and  those  Friends  that  intended  to  accompany  us  to 
the  Do^vns,  being  come  on  board,  we  took  our  leave 
in  great  tenderness  of  those  that  came  with  us  to 
Gravesend  only,  and  set  sail  about  six  in  the  morn- 
ing for  the  Downs. 

Having  a  fair  wind,  we  out-sailed  all  the  ships  that 
were  outward-bound,  and  got  thither  by  evening. 
Some  of  us  went  ashore  that  night,  and  lodged  at 
Deal,  where,  we  understood,  an  officer  had  orders 
from  the  governor  to  take  our  names  in  writing, 
which  he  did  next  morning,  though  we  told  him  they 
had  been  taken  at  Gravesend. 

Which  would  be  August  by  the  unreformed  calen- 
dar. 


Two  Years  in  America.  485 


In  the  afternoon,  the  wind  serving,  I  took  leave  of 
my  wife  and  other  Friends,  and  went  on  board.  Be- 
fore we  could  sail,  there  being  two  of  the  King's  frig- 
ates riding  in  the  Downs,  the  captain  of  one  of  them 
sent  his  press-master  on  board  us,  who  took  three  of 
our  seamen.  This  would  certainly  have  delayed,  if 
not  wholly  prevented,  our  voyage,  had  not  the  cap-' 
tain  of  the  other  frigate,  being  informed  of  the  leaki- 
ness  of  our  vessel,  and  the  length  of  our  voyage,  in 
compassion  and  much  civility,  spared  us  two  of  his 
own  men. 

Before  this  was  over,  a  custom-house  officer  came 
on  board  to  peruse  packets  and  get  fees;  so  that  we 
were  kept  from  sailing  till  about  sunset ;  during  which 
delay  a  very  considerable  number  of  merchantmen, 
outward-bound,  were  several  leagues  before  us. 

Being  clear,  we  set  sail  in  the  evening,  and  next 
morning  overtook  part  of  that  fleet  about  the  height 
of  Dover.  We  soon  reached  the  rest,  and  in  a  little 
time  left  them  all  behind;  for  our  yacht  was  counted 
a  very  swift  sailer.  But  she  was  very  leaky,  so  that 
the  seamen  and  some  of  the  passengers  did,  for  the 
most  part,  pump  day  and  night.  One  day  they  ob- 
served that  in  two  hours'  time  she  sucked  in  sixteen 
inches  of  water  in  the  well. 

When  we  had  been  about  three  weeks  at  sea,  one 
afternoon  we  spied  a  vessel  about  four  leagues  astern 
of  us.   Our  master  said  it  was  a  Sallee  *  man-of-war, 

*  A  Moorish  pirate  ship,  named  from  Sallee,  a  sea- 
port of  Morocco.  This  incident  not  only  indicates 
Fox's  simple  faith  in  God,  but  it  also  is  a  good  illustra- 


486         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

that  seemed  to  give  us  chase.  He  said,  "  Come,  let  us 
go  to  supper,  and  when  it  grows  dark  we  shall  lose 
him."  This  he  spoke  to  please  and  pacify  the  pas- 
sengers, some  of  whom  began  to  be  very  apprehensive 
of  the  danger.  But  Friends  were  well  satisfied  in 
themselves,  having  faith  in  God,  and  no  fear  upon 
Iheir  spirits. 

When  the  sun  was  gone  down,  I  saw  out  of  my 
cabin  the  ship  making  towards  us.  When  it  grew 
dark,  we  altered  our  course  to  miss  her;  but  she  al- 
tered also,  and  gained  upon  us. 

At  night  the  master  and  others  came  into  my 
cabin,  and  asked  me  what  they  should  do.  I  told 
them  I  was  no  mariner;  and  I  asked  them  what  they 
thought  was  best  to  do.  They  said  there  were  but 
two  ways,  either  to  outrun  him,  or  to  tack  about,  and 
hold  the  same  course  we  were  going  before.  I  told 
them  that  if  he  were  a  thief,  they  might  be  sure  he 
would  tack  about  too;  and  as  for  outrunning  him,  it 
was  to  no  purpose  to  talk  of  that,  for  they  saw  he 
sailed  faster  than  we.  They  asked  me  again  what  they 
should  do,  "  for,"  they  said,  "  if  the  mariners  had 
taken  Paul's  counsel,  they  had  not  come  to  the  dam- 
age they  did."  I  answered  that  it  was  a  trial  of  faith, 
and  therefore  the  Lord  was  to  be  waited  on  for 
counsel. 

So,  retiring  in  spirit,  the  Lord  showed  me  that  His 
life  and  power  were  placed  between  us  and  the  ship 
that  pursued  us.    I  told  this  to  the  master  and  the 

tion  of  the  way  in  which  he  inspired  confidence  in 
others.   The  captain  believes  in  him. 


Two  Years  in  America. 


487 


rest,  and  that  the  best  way  was  to  tack  about  and 
steer  our  right  course.  I  desired  them  also  to  put  out 
all  their  candles  but  the  one  they  steered  by,  and  to 
speak  to  all  the  passengers  to  be  still  and  quiet. 

About  eleven  at  night  the  watch  called  and  said 
they  were  just  upon  us.  This  disquieted  some  of  the 
passengers.  I  sat  up  in  my  cabin,  and,  looking 
through  the  port-hole,  the  moon  being  not  quite 
down,  I  saw  them  very  near  us.  I  was  getting  up  to 
go  out  of  the  cabin;  but  remembering  the  word  of 
the  Lord,  that  His  life  and  power  were  placed  be- 
tween us  and  them,  I  lay  down  again. 

The  master  and  some  of  the  seamen  came  again, 
and  asked  me  if  they  might  not  steer  such  a  point. 
I  told  them  they  might  do  as  they  would. 

By  this  time  the  moon  was  quite  down.  A  fresh 
gale  arose,  and  the  Lord  hid  us  from  them ;  we  sailed 
briskly  on  and  saw  them  no  more. 

The  next  day,  being  the  first  day  of  the  week,  we 
had  a  public  meeting  in  the  ship,  as  we  usually  had 
on  that  day  throughout  the  voyage,  and  the  Lord's 
presence  was  greatly  among  lis.  I  desired  the  people 
to  remember  the  mercies  of  the  Lord,  who  had  de- 
livered them;  for  they  might  have  been  all  in 
the  Turks'  hands  by  that  time,  had  not  the  Lord's 
hand  saved  them. 

About  a  week  after,  the  master  and  some  of  the 
seamen  endeavoured  to  persuade  the  passengers  that 
it  was  not  a  Turkish  pirate  that  had  chased  us,  but  a 
merchantman  going  to  the  Canaries.  When  I  heard 
of  it  I  asked  them,  "  Why  then  did  you  speak  so  to 
me?  Why  did  you  trouble  the  passengers?  and  why 


488         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

did  you  tack  about  from  him  and  alter  jour  course  ? " 
I  told  them  they  should  take  heed  of  slighting  the 
mercies  of  God. 

Afterwards,  while  we  were  at  Barbadoes,  there 
came  in  a  merchant  from  Sallee,  and  told  the  people 
that  one  of  the  Sallee  men-of-war  saw  a  monstrous 
yacht  at  sea,  the  greatest  that  ever  he  saw,  and  had 
her  in  chase,  and  was  just  upon  her,  but  that  there 
was  a  spirit  in  her  that  he  could  not  take.  This  con- 
firmed us  in  the  belief  that  it  was  a  Sallee-man  we 
saw  make  after  us,  and  that  it  was  the  Lord  that  de- 
livered us  out  of  his  hands. 

The  third  of  the  Eighth  month,  early  in  the  morn- 
ing, we  discovered  the  island  of  Barbadoes;  but  it 
was  between  nine  and  ten  at  night  ere  we  came  to 
anchor  in  Carlisle  bay. 

We  got  on  shore  as  soon  as  we  could,  and  I  with 
some  others  walked  to  the  house  of  a  Friend,  a  mer- 
chant, whose  name  was  Richard  Forstall,  above  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  from  the  bridge.  But  being  very  ill 
and  weak,  I  was  so  tired,  that  I  was  in  a  manner  spent 
by  the  time  I  got  thither.  There  I  abode  very  ill 
several  days,  and  though  they  several  times  gave  me 
things  to  make  me  sweat,  they  could  not  effect  it. 
What  they  gave  me  did  rather  parch  and  dry  up  my 
body,  and  made  me  probably  worse  than  otherwise 
I  might  have  been. 

Thus  I  continued  about  three  weeks  after  I  landed, 
having  much  pain  in  my  bones,  joints,  and  whole 
body,  so  that  I  could  hardly  get  any  rest;  yet  I  was 
pretty  cheery,  and  my  spirit  kept  above  it  all. 


Two  Years  in  America.  489 


Neither  did  my  illness  take  me  off  from  the  service 
of  Truth;  but  both  while  I  was  at  sea,  and  after  I 
came  to  Barbadoes,  before  I  was  able  to  travel  about, 
I  gave  forth  several  papers  (having  a  Friend  to  write 
for  me),  some  of  which  I  sent  by  the  first  conveyance 
for  England  to  be  printed. 

Soon  after  I  came  into  the  island,  I  was  informed 
of  a  remarkable  passage,  wherein  the  justice  of  God 
did  eminently  appear.  It  was  thus.  There  was  a 
young  man  of  Barbadoes  whose  name  was  John 
Drakes,  a  person  of  some  note  in  the  world's  account, 
but  a  common  swearer  and  a  bad  man,  who,  when  he 
was  in  London,  had  a  mind  to  marry  a  Friend's  daugh- 
ter, left  by  her  mother  very  young,  with  a  consider- 
able portion,  to  the  care  and  government  of  several 
Friends,  whereof  I  was  one.  He  made  application  to 
me  that  he  might  have  my  consent  to  marry  this 
young  maid. 

I  told  him  I  was  one  of  her  overseers,  appointed  by 
her  mother,  who  was  a  widow,  to  take  care  of  her; 
that  if  her  mother  had  intended  her  for  a  match,  to 
any  man  of  another  profession,  she  would  have  dis- 
posed her  accordingly;  but  she  committed  her  to  us, 
that  she  might  be  trained  up  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord; 
and  therefore  I  should  betray  the  tnist  reposed  in 
me  if  I  should  consent  that  he,  who  was  out  of  the 
fear  of  God,  should  marry  her;  and  this  I  would  not 
do. 

When  he  saw  that  he  could  not  obtain  his  desire, 
he  returned  to  Barbadoes  with  great  offence  of  mind 
against  me,  but  without  a  just  cause.  Afterwards, 


490         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

when  he  heard  I  was  coming  to  Barbadoes,  he  swore 
desperately,  and  threatened  that  if  he  could  possibly 
procure  it,  he  would  have  me  burned  to  death  when 
I  came  there.  A  Friend  hearing  of  this,  asked  him 
what  I  had  done  to  him  that  he  was  so  violent  against 
me.  He  would  not  answer,  but  said  again,  "  I'll  have 
him  burned."  Whereupon  the  Friend  replied,  "  Do 
not  march  on  too  furiously,  lest  thou  come  too  soon 
to  thy  journey's  end." 

About  ten  days  after  he  was  struck  with  a  violent, 
burning  fever,  of  which  he  died;  by  which  his  body 
was  so  scorched  that  the  people  said  it  was  as  black 
as  a  coal;  and  three  days  before  I  landed  his  body  was 
laid  in  the  dust.  This  was  taken  notice  of  as  a  sad  ex- 
ample. 

While  I  continued  so  weak  that  I  could  not  go 
abroad  to  meetings,  the  other  Friends  that  came  over 
with  me  bestirred  themselves  in  the  Lord's  work. 
The  next  day  but  one  after  we  came  on  shore,  they 
had  a  great  meeting  at  the  Bridge,  and  after  that 
several  meetings  in  different  parts  of  the  island; 
which  alarmed  the  people  of  all  sorts,  so  that  many 
came  to  our  meetings,  and  some  of  the  chief  est  rank. 
For  they  had  got  my  name,  understanding  I  was  come 
upon  the  island,  and  expected  to  see  me,  not  knowing 
I  was  unable  to  go  abroad. 

And  indeed  my  weakness  continued  the  longer  on 
me,  because  my  spirit  was  much  pressed  down  at  the 
first  with  the  filth  and  dirt,  and  with  the  unrighteous- 
ness of  the  people,  which  lay  as  an  heavy  weight  and 
load  upon  me.  But  after  I  had  been  above  a  month 
upon  the  island  my  spirit  became  somewhat  easier;  I 


Ttvo  Years  in  America.  491 


began  to  recover  my  health  and  strength,  and  to  get 
abroad  among  Friends.^ 

After  I  was  able  to  go  about,  and  had  been  a  little 
amongst  Friends,  I  went  to  visit  the  Governor,  Lewis 
Morice,  Thomas  Eons,  and  some  other  Friends  being 
with  me.  He  received  us  very  civilly,  and  treated 
us  very  kindly,  making  us  dine  with  him,  and  keeping 
us  the  greater  part  of  the  day  before  he  let  us  go 
away. 

The  same  week  I  went  to  Bridgetown.  There  was 
to  be  a  general  meeting  of  Friends  that  week;  and 
the  visit  I  had  made  to  the  Governor,  and  the  kind  re- 
ception I  had  with  him,  being  generally  known  to 
the  ofScers,  civil  and  military,  many  came  to  this 
meeting  from  most  parts  of  the  island,  and  those  not 
of  the  meanest  rank;  several  being  judges  or  justices, 
colonels  or  captains;  so  that  a  very  great  meeting  we 
had,  both  of  Friends  and  others. 

The  Lord's  blessed  power  was  plentifully  with  us; 
and  although  J  was  somewhat  straitened  for  time, 
three  other  Friends  having  spoken  before  me,  yet  the 
Lord  opened  things  through  me  to  the  general  and 


^  As  George  Fox  was  too  ill  to  travel,  the  meetings 
for  worship  and  for  business  were  held  at  the  house 
where  he  was  staying.  At  these  meetings  he  gave  much 
valuable  counsel.  Here  he  first  met  with  slavery  and 
dealt  with  it.  "  I  desired  them  also  that  they  would 
cause  their  overseers  to  deal  mildly  and  gently  with 
their  negroes,  and  not  use  cruelty  towards  them,  as  the 
manner  of  some  hath  been  and  is;  and  that  after  cer- 
tain years  of  servitude,  they  would  make  them  free." 


492 


George  Fox:  An  AutohiograpJiy. 


great  satisfaction  of  them  that  were  present.  Col- 
onel Lewis  Morice  came  to  this  meeting,  and  with 
him  a  neighbour  of  his,  a  judge  in  the  country,  whose 
name  was  Ralph  Fretwell,  who  was  very  well  satis- 
fied, and  received  the  Truth. 

Paul  Gwin,  a  jangling  Baptist,  came  into  the  meet- 
ing, and  asked  me  how  I  spelt  Cain,  and  whether  I 
had  the  same  spirit  as  the  apostles  had.  I  told  him, 
"  Yes."   And  he  bade  the  judge  take  notice  of  it. 

I  told  him,  "  He  that  hath  not  a  measure  of  the 
same  Holy  Ghost  as  the  apostles  had,  is  possessed 
with  an  unclean  spirit."   And  then  he  went  his  way. 

We  had  many  great  and  precious  meetings,  both 
for  worship  and  for  the  affairs  of  the  Church;  to  the 
former  of  which  many  of  other  societies  came.  At 
one  of  these  meetings  Colonel  Lyne,  a  sober  person, 
was  so  well  satisfied  with  what  I  declared  that  he 
said,  "  Now  I  can  gainsay  such  as  I  have  heard  speak 
evil  of  you ;  who  say,  you  do  not  own  Christ,  nor  that 
He  died;  whereas  I  perceive  you  exalt  Christ  in  all 
His  offices  beyond  what  I  have  ever  heard  before."  * 


®  In  order  that  it  might  be  positively  clear  that  he 
"exalted  Christ  in  all  His  offices,"  he  wrote  an  ex- 
tended Letter  to  the  Governor  of  Barbadoes.  The  Let- 
ter takes  the  form  of  a  declaration  of  faith  and  is  often 
referred  to  as  an  authoritative  statement  of  the  belief 
of  Friends.  It  was,  however,  not  written  for  that  pur- 
pose, and  it  is  not  by  any  means  a  full  statement  of 
their  belief.  It  does  not  even  mention  the  principle 
which  held  the  leading  place  in  all  Fox's  teaching  and 
preaching.  The  Letter  to  the  Governor  was  written  to 


Two  Years  in  America. 


403 


As  I  had  been  to  visit  the  Governor  as  soon  as  I 
was  well  able,  after  I  came  thither,  so,  when  I  was  at 
Thomas  Rous's,  the  Governor  came  to  see  me,  carry- 
ing himself  very  courteously. 

Having  been  three  months  or  more  in  Barbadoes, 
and  having  visited  Friends,  thoroughly  settled  meet- 
ings, and  despatched  the  service  for  which  the  Lord 
brought  me  thither,  I  felt  my  spirit  clear  of  that  isl- 
and, and  found  drawings  to  Jamaica.  When  I  had 
communicated  this  to  Friends,  I  acquainted  the  Gov- 
ernor also,  and  divers  of  his  council,  that  I  intended 
shortly  to  leave  the  island,  and  go  to  Jamaica.  This 
I  did  that,  as  my  coming  thither  was  open  and  public, 
so  my  departure  also  might  be.  Before  I  left  the 
island  I  wrote  the  following  letter  to  my  wife,  that 
she  might  understand  both  how  it  was  with  me,  and 
how  I  proceeded  in  my  travels: — 

"  My  Dear  Heart, 

"  To  whom  is  my  love,  and  to  all  the  children,  in 
the  Seed  of  Life  that  changeth  not,  but  is  over  all; 
blessed  be  the  Lord  forever.  I  have  uiidergone  great 
sufferings  in  my  body  and  spirit,  beyond  words;  but 


clear  Friends  from  false  charges,  and  it  dwells  solely  on 
the  points  on  which  Fox  is  rumored  to  be  unsound,  or 
charged  with  dangerous  teaching.  The  earliest  "  dec- 
laration of  faith  "  of  the  Quakers  was  issued  by  Chris- 
topher Holder,  John  Copeland  and  Richard  Doudney, 
from  Boston  prison  in  1657.  The  earliest  statement  is- 
sued in  Fngland  was  Eichard  Farnsworth's  "  Confession 
and  Profession  of  Faith  in  God,"  London,  1658. 


494         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


the  God  of  heaven  be  praised,  His  Truth  is  over  all. 
I  am  now  well ;  and,  if  the  Lord  permit,  within  a  few 
days  I  pass  from  Barbadoes  towards  Jamaica;  and  I 
think  to  stay  but  little  there.  I  desire  that  ye  may 
be  all  kept  free  in  the  Seed  of  Life,  out  of  all  cum- 
brances.  Friends  are  generally  well.  Remember  me 
to  Friends  that  inquire  after  me.  So  no  more,  but 
my  love  in  the  Seed  and  Life  that  changeth  not. 

"  G.  F. 

"  Barbadoes,  6th  of  11th  Month,  1671." 

I  set  sail  from  Barbadoes  to  Jamaica  on  the  8th 
of  the  Eleventh  month,  1671;  Eobert  Widders,  Wil- 
liam Edmundson,  Solomon  Eccles  and  Elizabeth 
Hooton  going  with  me.  Thomas  Briggs  and  John 
Stubbs  remained  in  Barbadoes,  with  whom  were 
John  Rous  and  William  Bailey. 

We  had  a  quick  and  easy  passage  to  Jamaica, 
where  we  met  again  with  our  Friends  James  Lancas- 
ter, John  Cartwright,  and  George  Pattison,  who  had 
been  labouring  there  in  the  service  of  Truth;  into 
which  we  forthwith  entered  with  them,  travelling  up 
and  down  through  the  island,  which  is  large;  and  a 
brave  country  it  is,  though  the  people  are,  many  of 
them,  debauched  and  wicked. 

We  had  much  service.  There  was  a  great  con- 
vincement,  and  many  received  the  Truth,  some  of 
whom  were  people  of  account  in  the  world.  We  had 
many  meetings  there,  which  were  large,  and  very 
quiet.  The  people  were  civil  to  us,  so  that  not  a 
mouth  was  opened  against  us.   I  was  twice  with  the 


I 


Two  Years  in  America.  495 


Governor,  and  some  other  magistrates,  who  all  car- 
ried themselves  kindly  towards  me. 

About  a  week  after  we  landed  in  Jamaica,  Eliza- 
beth Hooton,  a  woman  of  great  age,  who  had  trav- 
elled much  in  Truth's  service,  and  suffered  much  for 
it,  departed  this  life.  She  was  well  the  day  before 
she  died,  and  departed  in  peace,  like  a  lamb,  bearing 
testimony  to  Truth  at  her  departure. 

When  we  had  been  about  seven  weeks  in  Jamaica, 
had  brought  Friends  into  pretty  good  order,  and  set- 
tled several  meetings  amongst  them,  we  left  Solomon 
Eccles  there;  the  rest  of  us  embarked  for  Maryland, 
leaving  Friends  and  Truth  prosperous  in  Jamaica, 
the  Lord's  power  being  over  all,  and  His  blessed  Seed 
reigning. 

Before  I  left  Jamaica  I  wrote  another  letter  to  my 
wife,  as  follows: 

"  My  Deak  Heart, 

"  To  whom  is  my  love,  and  to  the  children,  in  that 
which  changeth  not,  but  is  over  all;  and  to  all  Friends 
in  those  parts.  I  have  been  in  Jamaica  about  five 
weeks.  Friends  here  are  generally  well,  and  there  is 
a  convinceraent:  but  things  would  be  too  large  to 
write  of.  Sufferings  in  every  place  attend  me;  but 
the  blessed  Seed  is  over  all;  the  great  Lord  be 
praised,  who  is  Lord  of  sea  and  land,  and  of  all  things 
therein.  We  intend  to  pass  from  hence  about  the 
beginning  of  next  month,  towards  Maryland,  if  the 
Lord  please.  Dwell  all  of  you  in  the  Seed  of  God; 
in  His  Truth  I  rest  in  love  to  you  all.  G.  F. 

"  Jamaica,  23d  of  12th  Month,  1671." 


496         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


We  went  on  board  on  the  8th  of  First  month,* 
1671-2,  and,  having  contrary  winds,  were  a  full  week 
sailing  forwards  and  backwards  before  we  could  get 
out  of  sight  of  Jamaica. 

A  difficult  voyage  this  proved,  and  dangerous,  es- 
pecially in  passing  through  the  Gulf  of  Florida, 
where  we  met  with  many  trials  by  winds  and  storms. 

But  the  great  God,  who  is  Lord  of  the  sea  and 
land,  and  who  rideth  upon  the  wings  of  the  wind,  did 
by  His  power  preserve  us  through  many  and  great 
dangers,  when  by  extreme  stress  of  weather  our  ves- 
sel was  many  times  likely  to  be  upset,  and  much  of 
her  tackling  broken.  And  indeed  we  were  sensible 
that  the  Lord  was  a  God  at  hand,  and  that  His  ear 
was  open  to  the  supplications  of  His  people. 

For  when  the  winds  were  so  strong  and  boisterous, 
and  the  storms  and  tempests  so  great  that  the  sailors 
knew  not  what  to  do,  but  let  the  ship  go  which  way 
she  would,  then  did  we  pray  unto  the  Lord,  who  gra- 
ciously heard  us,  calmed  the  winds  and  the  seas,  gave 
us  seasonable  weather,  and  made  us  to  rejoice  in  His 
salvation.  Blessed  and  praised  be  the  holy  name  of 
the  Lord,  whose  power  hath  dominion  over  all,  whom 
the  winds  and  the  seas  obey. 

We  were  between  six  and  seven  weeks  in  this  pas- 
sage from  Jamaica  to  Maryland.  Some  days  before 
we  came  to  land,  after  we  had  entered  the  bay  of  Pa- 
tuxent  Eiver,  a  great  storm  arose,  which  cast  a  boat 
upon  us  for  shelter,  in  which  were  several  people  of 
account  in  the  world.  We  took  them  in;  but  the  boat 
was  lost,  with  five  hundred  poimds'  worth  of  goods 

*  March  8th,  1672. 


Two  Years  in  America.  497 


in  it,  as  they  said.  They  continued  on  board  several 
days,  not  having  any  means  to  get  off ;  and  we  had  a 
very  good  meeting  with  them  in  the  ship. 

But  provisions  grew  short,  for  they  brought  none 
in  with  them ;  and  ours,  by  reason  of  the  length  of  our 
voyage,  were  well-nigh  spent  when  they  came  to  us; 
so  that  with  their  living  with  us  too,  we  had  now  little 
or  none  left.  Whereupon  George  Pattison  took  a 
boat,  and  ventured  his  life  to  get  to  shore;  the  hazard 
was  so  great  that  all  but  Friends  concluded  he  would 
be  cast  away.  Yet  it  pleased  the  Lord  to  bring  him 
safe  to  land,  and  in  a  short  time  after  the  Friends 
of  the  place  came  to  fetch  us  to  land  also,  in  a  season- 
able time,  for  our  provisions  were  quite  spent. 

We  partook  also  of  another  great  deliverance  in 
this  voyage,  through  the  good  providence  of  the 
Lord,  which  we  came  to  understand  afterwards.  For 
when  we  were  determined  to  come  from  Jamaica,  we 
had  our  choice  of  two  vessels,  that  were  both  bound 
for  the  same  coast.  One  of  these  was  a  frigate,  the 
other  a  yacht.  The  master  of  the  frigate,  we 
thought,  asked  unreasonably  for  our  passage,  which 
made  us  agree  with  the  master  of  the  yacht,  who  of- 
fered to  carry  us  ten  shillings  a-piece  cheaper  than 
the  other. 

We  went  on  board  the  yacht,  and  the  frigate  came 
out  together  with  us,  intending  to  be  consorts  during 
the  voyage.  For  several  days  we  sailed  together; 
but,  with  calms  and  contrary  winds,  we  were  soon 
separated.  After  that  the  frigate,  losing  her  way, 
fell  among  the  Spaniards,  by  whom  she  was  taken 
and  plundered,  and  the  master  and  mate  made  pris- 


498         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


oners.  Afterwards,  being  retaken  by  the  English, 
she  was  sent  home  to  her  owners  in  Virginia.  When 
we  came  to  understand  this  we  saw  and  admired  the 
providence  of  God,  who  preserved  us  out  of  our  en- 
emies' hands;  and  he  that  was  covetous  fell  among 
the  covetous. 

Here  we  found  John  Burnyeat,^  intending  shortly 
to  sail  for  England;  but  on  our  arrival  he  altered  his 
purpose,  and  joined  us  in  the  Lord's  service.  He 
had  appointed  a  general  meeting  for  all  the  Friends 
in  the  province  of  Maryland,  that  he  might  see  them 
together,  and  take  his  leave  of  them  before  he  de- 
parted out  of  the  country.  It  was  so  ordered  by  the 
good  providence  of  God  that  we  landed  just  in  time 
to  reach  that  meeting,  by  which  means  we  had  a  very 
seasonable  opportunity  of  taking  the  Friends  of  the 
province  together. 

A  very  large  meeting  this  was,  and  it  held  four 
days,  to  which,  besides  Friends,  came  many  other 
people,  several  of  whom  were  of  considerable  quality 
in  the  world's  account.  There  were  five  or  six  jus- 
tices of  the  peace,  the  speaker  of  their  assembly,  one 
of  their  council,  and  others  of  note,  who  seemed  well 
satisfied  with  the  meeting.  After  the  public  meet- 
ings were  over,  the  men's  and  women's  meetings  be- 
gan, wherein  I  opened  to  Friends  the  service  thereof, 
to  their  great  satisfaction. 

John  Burnyeat  travelled  extensively  and  did  much 
valuable  work  in  America.  See  the  Journal  of  John 
Burnyeat,  reprinted  in  Volume  II.  of  Friends'  Li- 
brary. 


Two  Years  in  America.  499 


After  this  we  went  to  the  Cliffs,  where  another 
general  meeting  was  appointed.  We  went  some  of 
the  way  by  land,  the  rest  by  water,  and,  a  storm  aris- 
ing, our  boat  was  run  aground,  in  danger  of  being 
beaten  to  pieces,  and  the  water  came  in  upon  us.  I 
was  in  a  great  sweat,  having  come  very  hot  out  of  a 
meeting  before,  and  now  was  wet  with  the  water  be- 
sides; yet,  having  faith  in  the  divine  power,  I  was 
preserved  from  taking  hurt,  blessed  be  the  Lord ! 

To  this  meeting  came  many  who  received  the 
Truth  with  reverence.  We  had  also  a  men's  meet- 
ing and  a  women's  meeting.  Most  of  the  backsliders 
came  in  again;  and  several  meetings  were  established 
for  taking  care  of  the  affairs  of  the  Church. 

After  these  two  general  meetings,  we  parted  com- 
pany, dividing  ourselves  unto  several  coasts,  for  the 
service  of  Truth.  James  Lancaster  and  John  Cart- 
wright  went  by  sea  for  New  England;  William  Ed- 
mundson  and  three  Friends  more  sailed  for  Virginia, 
where  things  were  much  out  of  order;  John  Burn- 
yeat,  Robert  Widders,  George  Pattison,  and  I,  with 
several  Friends  of  the  province,  went  over  by  boat  to 
the  Eastern  Shore,*  and  had  a  meeting  there  on  the 
First-day. 

There  many  people  received  the  Truth  with  glad- 
ness, and  Friends  were  greatly  refreshed.  A  very 
large  and  heavenly  meeting  it  was.  Several  persons 
of  quality  in  that  country  were  at  it,  two  of  whom 
were  justices  of  the  peace.  It  was  upon  me  from  the 
Lord  to  send  to  the  Indian  emperor  and  his  kings  to 
come  to  that  meeting.     The  emperor  came  and 

*  Eastern  shore  of  Chesapeake  Bay. 


500         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

was  at  the  meeting.  His  kings,  lying  further  ofiF, 
could  not  reach  the  place  in  time.  Yet  they  came 
soon  after,  with  their  cockarooses.® 

I  had  in  the  evening  two  good  opportunities  with 
them;  they  heard  the  Word  of  the  Lord  willingly, 
and  confessed  to  it.  What  I  spoke  to  them  I  desired 
them  to  speak  to  their  people,  and  to  let  them  know 
that  God  was  raising  up  His  tabernacle  of  witness  in 
their  wilderness-country,  and  was  setting  up  His 
standard  and  glorious  ensign  of  righteousness.  They 
carried  themselves  very  courteously  and  lovingly, 
and  inquired  where  the  next  meeting  would  be,  say- 
ing that  they  would  come  to  it.  Yet  they  said  they 
had  had  a  great  debate  with  their  council  about  their 
coming,  before  they  came. 

The  next  day  we  began  our  journey  by  land  to 
New  England;  a  tedious  journey  through  the  woods 
and  wilderness,  over  bogs  and  great  rivers. 

We  took  horse  at  the  head  of  Tredhaven  creek, 
and  travelled  through  the  woods  till  we  came  a  little 
above  the  head  of  Miles  river,  by  which  we  passed, 
and  rode  to  the  head  of  Wye  river,  and  so  to  the 
head  of  Chester  river,  where,  making  a  fire,  we  took 
up  our  lodging  in  the  woods.  Next  morning  we  trav- 
elled the  woods  till  we  came  to  Sassafras  river,  which 
we  went  over  in  canoes,  causing  our  horses  to  swim 
beside  us. 

Then  we  rode  to  Bohemia  river,  where,  in  like 
manner  swimming  our  horses,  we  ourselves  went  over 
in  canoes.    We  rested  a  little  at  a  plantation  by  the 


Local  word  for  Indian  chief  or  headman. 


Two  Years  in  America.  501 


way,  but  not  long,  for  we  had  thirty  miles  to  ride 
that  afternoon  if  we  would  reach  a  town,  which  we 
were  willing  to  do,  and  therefore  rode  hard  for  it. 
I,  with  some  others,  whose  horses  were  strong,  got 
to  the  town  that  night,  exceedingly  tired,  and  wet  to 
the  skin;  but  George  Pattison  and  Kobert  Widders, 
being  weaker-horsed,  were  obliged  to  lie  in  the  woods 
that  night  also. 

The  town  we  went  to  was  a  Dutch  town,  called 
I^ew  Castle,*  whither  Eobert  Widders  and  George 
Pattison  came  to  us  next  morning. 

We  departed  thence,  and  got  over  the  river  Dela- 
ware, not  without  great  danger  of  some  of  our  lives. 
When  we  were  over  we  were  troubled  to  procure 
guides,  which  were  hard  to  get,  and  very  chargeable. 
Then  had  we  that  wilderness  country,  since  called 
West  Jersey,  to  pass  through,  not  then  inhabited  by 
English;  so  that  we  sometimes  travelled  a  whole  day 
together  without  seeing  man  or  woman,  house  or 
dwelling-place.  Sometimes  we  lay  in  the  woods  by  a 
fire,  and  sometimes  in  the  Indians'  wigwams  or 
houses. 

We  came  one  night  to  an  Indian  town,  and  lay  at 
the  house  of  the  king,  who  was  a  very  pretty  t  man. 
Both  he  and  his  wife  received  us  very  lovingly,  and 
his  attendants  (such  as  they  were)  were  very  respect- 
ful to  us.  They  gave  us  mats  to  lie  on;  but  provis- 
ion was  very  short  with  them,  they  having  caught  but 
little  that  day.  At  another  Indian  town  where  we 
stayed  the  king  came  to  us,  and  he  could  speak  some 


Iiw  Delaware.  fThat  is,  kindly-spirited. 


502         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


English,  I  spoke  to  him  much,  and  also  to  his  peo- 
ple; and  they  were  very  loving  to  us. 

At  length  we  came  to  Middletown,  an  English 
plantation  in  East  Jersey,  and  there  we  found  some 
Friends;  but  we  could  not  stay  to  have  a  meeting  at 
that  time,  being  earnestly  pressed  in  our  spirits  to 
get  to  the  half-year's  meeting  of  Eriends  at  Oyster 
Bay,  in  Long  Island,  which  was  very  near  at  hand. 

We  went  with  a  Eriend,  Eichard  Hartshorn, 
brother  of  Hugh  Hartshorn,  the  upholsterer,  in 
London,  who  received  us  gladly  at  his  house,  where 
we  refreshed  ourselves;  and  then  he  carried  us  and 
our  horses  in  his  own  boat  over  a  great  water,  which 
occupied  most  part  of  the  day  getting  over,  and  set 
us  upon  Long  Island.  We  got  that  evening  to  Eriends 
at  Gravesend,  with  whom  we  tarried  that  night,  and 
next  day  got  to  Flushing,  and  the  day  following 
reached  Oyster  Bay;  several  Friends  of  Gravesend 
and  Flushing  accompanied  lis. 

The  half-year's  meeting  began  next  day,  which  was 
the  first  day  of  the  week,  and  lasted  four  days.  The 
first  and  second  days  we  had  public  meetings  for  wor- 
ship, to  which  people  of  all  sorts  came ;  on  the  third 
day  were  the  men's  and  women's  meetings,  wherein 
the  affairs  of  the  Church  were  taken  care  of.  Here 
we  met  with  some  bad  spirits,  who  had  run  out  from 
Truth  into  prejudice,  contention,  and  opposition  to 
the  order  of  Truth,  and  to  Friends  therein. 

These  had  been  very  troublesome  to  Friends  in 
their  meetings  there  and  thereabouts  formerly,  and 
likely  would  have  been  so  now;  but  I  would  not 
suffer  the  service  of  our  men's  and  women's  meetings 


Two  Years  in  America.  503 


to  be  interrupted  and  hindered  by  their  cavils.  I  let 
them  know  that  if  they  had  anything  to  object 
against  the  order  of  Truth  which  we  were  in,  we 
would  give  them  a  meeting  another  day  on  purpose. 
And  indeed  I  laboured  the  more,  and  travelled  the 
harder  to  get  to  this  meeting,  where  it  was  expected 
many  of  these  contentious  people  would  be;  because 
I  understood  they  had  reflected  much  upon  me,  when 
I  was  far  from  them. 

The  men's  and  women's  meetings  being  over,  on 
the  fourth  day  we  had  a  meeting  with  these  discon- 
tented people,  to  which  as  many  of  them  as  chose 
came,  and  as  many  Friends  as  desired  were  present 
also;  and  the  Lord's  power  broke  forth  gloriously  to 
the  confounding  of  the  gainsayers.  Then  some  of 
those  that  had  been  chief  in  the  mischievous  work  of 
contention  and  opposition  against  the  Truth  began  to 
fawn  upon  me,  and  to  cast  the  blame  upon  others; 
but  the  deceitful  spirit  was  judged  down  and  con- 
demned, and  the  glorious  Truth  of  God  was  exalted 
and  set  over  all ;  and  they  were  all  brought  down  and 
bowed  under.  Which  was  of  great  service  to  Truth, 
and  to  the  satisfaction  and  comfort  of  Friends;  glory 
to  the  Lord  for  ever ! 

After  Friends  were  gone  to  their  several  habita- 
tions, we  stayed  some  days  upon  the  island;  had  meet- 
ings in  several  parts  thereof,  and  good  service  for  the 
Lord.  When  we  were  clear  of  the  island,  we  re- 
turned to  Oyster  Bay,  waiting  for  a  wind  to  carry  us 
to  Rhode  Island,  which  was  computed  to  be  about 
two  hundred  miles.  As  soon  as  the  wind  served,  we 
set  sail.   Wo  arrived  there  on  the  thirtieth  day  of  the 


504         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


Third  month,  and  were  gladly  received  by  Friends. 
We  went  to  the  house  of  Mcholas  Easton,  who  at 
that  time  was  governor  of  the  island;  where  we 
rested,  being  very  weary  with  travelling. 

On  First-day  following  we  had  a  large  meeting,  to 
which  came  the  deputy-governor  and  several  justices, 
who  were  mightily  affected  with  the  Truth.  The 
week  following,  the  Yearly  Meeting  for  all  the 
Friends  of  ISTew  England  and  the  other  colonies  adja- 
cent, was  held  in  this  island ;  ^  to  which,  besides  very 
many  Friends  who  lived  in  those  parts,  came  John 
Stubbs  from  Barbadoes,  and  James  Lancaster  and 
J ohn  Cartwright  from  another  way. 

This  meeting  lasted  six  days,  the  first  four  days 
being  general  public  meetings  for  worship,  to  which 
abundance  of  other  people  came.  For  they  having 
no  priest  in  the  island,  and  so  no  restriction  to  any 
particular  way  of  worship;  and  both  the  governor  and 
deputy-governor,  with  several  justices  of  the  peace, 
daily  frequenting  the  meetings;  this  so  encouraged 
the  people  that  they  flocked  in  from  all  parts  of  the 


®  George  Bishop,  in  "  New  England  Judged,"  p.  351, 
says  that  New  England  Yearly  Meeting  was  set  up  in 
1661.  John  Burnyeat,  who  had  attended  it  in  1671,  says 
in  his  Journal,  "  It  begins  in  the  ninth  of  the  Fourth 
month  every  year;  and  continues  for  much  of  a  week, 
and  is  a  general  meeting  once  a  year  for  all  Friends  in 
New  England."  The  records  for  several  years  after  its 
origin  were  destroyed  by  fire.  They  are,  however,  com- 
plete from  1683  to  date. 


Two  Years  in  America. 


505 


island.  Very  good  service  we  had  amongst  them,  and 
Truth  had  good  reception. 

I  have  rarely  observed  a  people,  in  the  state 
wherein  they  stood,  to  hear  with  more  attention, 
diligence,  and  affection,  than  generally  they  did,  dur- 
ing the  four  days;  which  was  also  taken  notice  of  by 
other  Friends. 

These  public  meetings  over,  the  men's  meeting 
began,  which  was  large,  precious,  and  weighty.  The 
day  following  was  the  women's  meeting,  which  also 
was  large  and  very  solemn. 

These  two  meetings  being  for  ordering  the  affairs 
of  the  Church,  many  weighty  things  were  opened, 
and  communicated  to  them,  by  way  of  advice,  infor- 
mation, and  instruction  in  the  services  relating  there- 
unto; that  all  might  be  kept  clean,  sweet  and 
savoury  amongst  them.  In  these,  several  men's  and 
women's  meetings  for  other  parts  were  agreed  and 
settled,  to  take  care  of  the  poor,  and  other  affairs  of 
the  Church,  and  to  see  that  all  who  profess  Truth 
walk  according  to  the  glorious  gospel  of  God. 

When  this  great  general  meeting  was  ended,  it  was 
somewhat  hard  for  Friends  to  part;  for  the  glorious 
power  of  the  Lord,  which  was  over  all,  and  His 
blessed  Truth  and  life  flowing  amongst  them,  had  so 
knit  and  united  them  together,  that  they  spent  two 
days  in  taking  leave  one  of  another,  and  of  the 
Friends  of  the  island ;  and  then,  being  mightily  filled 
with  the  presence  and  power  of  the  Lord,  they  went 
away  with  joyful  hearts  to  their  several  habitations, 
in  the  several  colonies  where  they  lived. 

When  Friends  had  taken  their  leave  one  of  an- 


506         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

other,  we,  wko  travelled  amongst  them,  dispersed 
ourselves  into  our  several  services,  as  the  Lord 
ordered  us.  John  Burnyeat,  John  Cartwright,  and 
George  Pattison  went  into  the  eastern  parts  of  New 
England,  in  company  with  the  Friends  that  came 
from  thence,  to  visit  the  particular  meetings  there; 
whom  John  Stubbs  and  James  Lancaster  intended  to 
follow  awhile  after,  in  the  same  service;  but  they 
were  not  yet  clear  of  this  island.  Eobert  Widders 
and  I  stayed  longer  upon  this  island;  finding  service 
still  here  for  the  Lord,  through  the  great  openness 
and  the  daily  coming  in  of  fresh  people  from  other 
colonies,  for  some  time  after  the  general  meeting;  so 
that  we  had  many  large  and  serviceable  meetings 
amongst  them. 

During  this  time,  a  marriage  was  celebrated 
amongst  Friends  in  this  island,  and  we  were  present. 
It  was  at  the  house  of  a  Friend  who  had  formerly 
been  governor  of  the  island:  and  there  were  present 
three  justices  of  the  peace,  with  many  others  not  in 
profession  with  us.  Friends  said  they  had  never  seen 
such  a  solemn  assembly  on  such  an  occasion,  or  so 
weighty  a  marriage  and  so  comely  an  order.  Thus 
Truth  was  set  over  all.  This  might  serve  for  an  exam- 
ple to  others;  for  there  were  some  present  from 
many  other  places. 

After  this  I  had  a  great  travail  in  spirit  concerning 
the  Ranters  in  those  parts,  who  had  been  rude  at  a 
meeting  at  which  I  was  not  present.  Wherefore  I 
appointed  a  meeting  amongst  them,  believing  the  Lord 
would  give  me  power  over  them;  which  He  did,  to 
His  praise  and  glory;  blessed  be  His  name  for  ever! 


Two  Years  in  America.  507 


There  were  at  this  meeting  many  Friends,  and  divers 
other  people;  some  of  whom  were  justices  of  the 
peace,  and  officers,  who  were  generally  well  affected 
with  the  Truth.  One,  who  had  been  a  justice  twenty 
years,  was  convinced,  spoke  highly  of  the  Truth,  and 
more  highly  of  me  than  is  fit  for  me  to  mention  or 
take  notice  of. 

Then  we  had  a  meeting  at  Providence,  which  was 
very  large,  consisting  of  many  sorts  of  people.  I  had 
a  great  travail  upon  my  spirit,  that  it  might  be  pre- 
served quiet,  and  that  Truth  might  be  brought  over 
the  people,  might  gain  entrance,  and  have  a  place  in 
them;  for  they  were  generally  above  the  priest  in 
high  notions;  and  some  of  them  came  on  purpose  to 
dispute.  But  the  Lord,  whom  we  waited  upon,  was 
with  us,  and  His  power  went  over  them  all ;  and  His 
blessed  Seed  was  exalted  and  set  above  all.  The  dis- 
puters  were  silent,  and  the  meeting  was  quiet  and 
ended  well;  praised  be  the  Lord!  The  people  went 
away  mightily  satisfied,  much  desiring  another  meet- 
ing. 

This  place  (called  Providence)  was  about  thirty 
miles  from  Rhode  Island;  and  we  went  to  it  by  water. 
The  Governor  of  Rhode  Island,  and  many  others, 
went  with  me  thither;  and  we  had  the  meeting  in  a 
great  barn,  which  was  thronged  with  people,  so  that 
I  was  exceedingly  hot,  and  in  a  great  sweat;  but  all 
was  well;  the  glorious  power  of  the  Lord  shone  over 
all;  glory  to  the  great  God  for  ever! 

For  an  account  of  Fox's  relations  with  Roger  Wil- 
liams see  note  in  next  chapter. 


508         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


After  this  we  went  to  Narragansett,  about  twenty 
miles  from  Rhode  Island;  and  the  Governor  went 
with  us.  We  had  a  meeting  at  a  justice's  house, 
where  Friends  had  never  had  any  before.  It  was 
very  large,  for  the  country  generally  came  in;  and 
people  came  also  from  Connecticut,  and  other  parts 
round  about,  amongst  whom  were  four  justices  of  the 
peace.  Most  of  these  people  had  never  heard  Friends 
before;  but  they  were  mightily  affected  with  the 
meeting,  and  a  great  desire  there  is  after  the  Truth 
amongst  them;  so  that  our  meeting  was  of  very  good 
service,  blessed  be  the  Lord  for  ever ! 

The  justice  at  whose  house  the  meeting  was,  and 
another  justice  of  that  country,  invited  me  to  come 
again;  but  I  was  then  clear  of  those  parts,  and  going 
towards  Shelter  Island.  But  John  Burnyeat  and 
John  Cartwright,  being  come  out  of  New  England 
into  Rhode  Island,  before  I  was  gone,  I  laid  this  place 
before  them;  and  they  felt  drawings  thither,  and 
went  to  visit  them. 

At  another  place,  I  heard  some  of  the  magistrates 
say  among  themselves  that  if  they  had  money 
enough,  they  would  hire  me  to  be  their  minister. 
This  was  where  they  did  not  well  understand  us,  and 
our  principles;  but  when  I  heard  of  it,  I  said,  "  It  is 
time  for  me  to  be  gone ;  for  if  their  eye  were  so  much 
on  me,  or  on  any  of  us,  they  would  not  come  to  their 
own  Teacher."  For  this  thing  (hiring  ministers)  had 
spoiled  many,  by  hindering  them  from  improving 
their  own  talents;  whereas  our  labour  is  to  bring 
every  one  to  his  own  Teacher  in  himself. 


Two  Years  in  America.  509 


I  went  thence  towards  Shelter  Island,^^  having 
with  me  Robert  Widders,  James  Lancaster,  George 
Pattison,  and  John  J  ay,  a  planter  of  Barbadoes. 

We  went  in  a  sloop ;  and  passing  by  Point  Juda  * 
and  Block  Island,  we  came  to  Fisher's  Island, 
where  at  night  we  went  on  shore;  but  were  not  able 
to  stay  for  the  mosquitoes  which  abound  there,  and 
are  very  troublesome.  Wherefore  we  went  into  our 
sloop  again,  put  off  for  the  shore,  and  cast  anchor; 
and  so  lay  in  our  sloop  that  night. 

Next  day  we  went  into  the  Sound,  but  finding  our 
sloop  was  not  able  to  live  in  that  water,  we  returned 
again,  and  came  to  anchor  before  Fisher's  Island, 
where  we  lay  in  our  sloop  that  night  also.  There  fell 
abundance  of  rain,  and  our  sloop  being  open,  we  were 
exceedingly  wet. 

N^ext  day  we  passed  over  the  waters  called  the  Two 
Horse  Races,  and  then  by  Gardner's  Island;  after 
which  we  passed  by  the  Gull's  Island,  and  so  got  at 
length  to  Shelter  Island.  Though  it  was  but  about 
twenty-seven  leagues  from  Rhode  Island,  yet  through 
the  difficulty  of  passage  we  were  three  days  in  reach- 
ing it. 

The  day  after,  being  First-day,  we  had  a  meeting 
there.    In  the  same  week  I  had  another  among  the 

*  Point  Judith. 


"  "  Shelter  Island  "  lies  at  the  Eastern  end  of  Long 
Island,  between  Gardiner's  Bay  and  Little  Peconic  Bay. 
Nathaniel  Sylvester  was  the  sole  proprietor  of  the 
ishmd.  and  he  made  it  a  shelter  for  persecuted  Friends 
from  New  England. 


510         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

Indians;  at  which  were  their  king,  his  council,  and 
about  a  hundred  Indians  more.  They  sat  down  like 
Friends,  and  heard  very  attentively  while  I  spoke  to 
them  by  an  interpreter,  an  Indian  that  could  speak 
English  well.  After  the  meeting  they  appeared  very 
loving,  and  confessed  that  what  was  said  to  them  was 
Truth. 

Next  First-day  we  had  a  great  meeting  on  the 
island,  to  which  came  many  people  who  had  never 
heard  Friends  before.  They  were  very  well  satisfied 
with  it,  and  when  it  was  over  would  not  go  away  till 
they  had  spoken  with  me.  Wherefore  I  went 
amongst  them,  and  found  they  were  much  taken  with 
the  Truth;  good  desires  were  raised  in  them,  and 
great  love.  Blessed  be  the  Lord;  His  name  spreads, 
and  will  be  great  among  the  nations,  and  dreadful 
among  the  heathen. 

While  we  were  in  Shelter  Island,  William  Ed- 
mundson,  who  had  been  labouring  in  the  work  of  the 
Lord  in  Virginia,  came  to  us.  From  thence  he  had 
travelled  through  the  desert-country,  through  diffi- 
culties and  many  trials,  till  he  came  to  Roanoke, 
where  he  met  with  a  tender  people.  After  seven 
weeks'  service  in  those  parts,  sailing  over  to  Mary- 
land, and  so  to  New  York,  he  came  to  Long  Island, 
and  so  to  Shelter  Island ;  where  we  met  with  him,  and 
were  very  glad  to  hear  from  him  the  good  service  he 
had  had  for  the  Lord,  in  the  several  places  where  he 
had  travelled  since  he  parted  from  us. 

We  stayed  not  long  in  Shelter  Island,  but  entering 
our  sloop  again  put  to  sea  for  Long  Island.  We  had 
a  very  rough  passage,  for  the  tide  ran  so  strong  for 


Two  Years  in  America.  611 


several  hours  that  I  have  not  seen  the  like;  and  being 
against  us,  we  could  hardly  get  forwards,  though  we 
had  a  gale. 

We  were  upon  the  water  all  that  day  and  the  night 
following;  but  found  ourselves  next  day  driven  back 
near  to  Fisher's  Island.  For  there  was  a  great  fog, 
and  towards  day  it  was  very  dark,  so  that  we  could 
not  see  what  way  we  made.  Besides,  it  rained  much 
in  the  night,  which  in  our  open  sloop  made  us  very 
wet. 

Next  day  a  great  storm  arose,  so  that  we  were  fain 
to  go  over  the  Sound,  and  got  over  with  much  diffi- 
culty. When  we  left  Fisher's  Island,  we  passed  by 
Falkner  Island,  and  came  to  the  main,  where  we  cast 
anchor  till  the  storm  was  over. 

Then  we  crossed  the  Sound,  being  all  very  wet; 
and  much  difficulty  we  had  to  get  to  land,  the  wind 
being  strong  against  us.  But  blessed  be  the  Lord  God 
of  heaven  and  earth,  and  of  the  seas  and  waters,  all 
was  well. 

We  got  safe  to  Oyster  Bay,  in  Long  Island,  which, 
they  say,  is  about  two  hundred  miles  from  Khode 
Island,  the  seventh  of  the  Sixth  month,  very  early  in 
the  morning. 

At  Oyster  Bay  we  had  a  very  large  meeting.  The 
same  day  James  Lancaster  and  Christopher  Holder 
went  over  the  bay  to  Rye,"  on  the  continent,  in  Gov- 

Eye  is  now  in  New  York  State.  The  boundary  be- 
tween New  York  and  Connecticut  was  long  in  dispute. 
At  this  time  it  seems  Eye  was  in  Governor  Winthrop's 
territory. 


512         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

ernor  Wintlirop's  government,  and  had  a  meeting 
there. 

From  Oyster  Bay,  we  passed  about  thirty  miles  to 
Flushing,  where  we  had  a  very  large  meeting,  many 
hundreds  of  people  being  there ;  some  of  whom  came 
about  thirty  miles  to  it.  A  glorious  and  heavenly 
meeting  it  was  (praised  be  the  Lord  God !),  and  the 
people  were  much  satisfied. 

Meanwhile  Christopher  Holder  and  some  other 
Friends  went  to  a  town  in  Long  Island,  called 
Jamaica,  and  had  a  meeting  there. 

We  passed  from  Flushing  to  Gravesend,  about 
twenty  miles,  and  there  had  three  precious  meetings ; 
to  which  many  would  have  come  from  New  York,  but 
that  the  weather  hindered  them. 

Being  clear  of  this  place,  we  hired  a  sloop,  and,  the 
wind  serving,  set  out  for  the  new  countiy  now  called 
Jersey.  Passing  down  the  bay  by  Coney  Island,  Nat- 
ton  Island,*  and  Staten  Island,  we  came  to  Richard 
Hartshorn's  at  Middletown  harbour,'''  about  break  of 
day,  the  twenty-seventh  of  the  Sixth  month. 

Next  day  we  rode  about  thirty  miles  into  that 
country,  through  the  woods,  and  over  very  bad  bogs, 
one  worse  than  all  the  rest;  the  descent  into  which 
was  so  steep  that  we  were  fain  to  slide  down  with  our 
horses,  and  then  let  them  lie  and  breathe  themselves 
before  they  could  go  on.  This  place  the  people  of 
the  country  called  Purgatory. 

We  got  at  length  to  Shrewsbury,  in  East  Jersey, 
and  on  First-day  had  a  precious  meeting  there,  to 


*  Now  Governor's  Island. 


fin  New  Jersey. 


Two  Years  in  America. 


513 


which  Friends  and  other  people  came  from  afar,  and 
the  blessed  presence  of  the  Lord  was  with  us.  The 
same  week  we  had  a  men's  and  women's  meeting  out 
of  most  parts  of  ^^ew  Jersey. 

They  are  building  a  meeting  place  in  the  midst  of 
them  and  there  is  a  monthly  and  general  meeting  set 
up  which  will  be  of  great  service  in  those  parts  in 
keeping  up  the  gospel  order  and  government  of 
Christ  Jesus,  of  the  increase  of  which  there  is  no 
end,  that  they  who  are  faithful  may  see  that  all  who 
profess  the  holy  Truth  live  in  the  pure  religion,  and 
walk  as  becometh  the  gospel. 

While  we  were  at  Shrewsbury,  an  accident  befel, 
which  for  the  time  was  a  great  exercise  to  us.  John 
Jay,  a  Friend  of  Barbadoes,  who  had  come  with  us 
from  Rhode  Island,  and  intended  to  accompany  us 
through  the  woods  to  Maryland,  being  to  try  a  horse, 
got  upon  his  back,  and  the  horse  fell  a-running,  cast 
him  down  upon  his  head,  and  broke  his  neck,  as  the 
people  said.  Those  that  were  near  him  took  him  up 
as  dead,  carried  him  a  good  way,  and  laid  him  on  a 
tree. 

I  got  to  him  as  soon  as  I  could;  and,  feeling  him, 
concluded  he  was  dead.  As  I  stood  pitying  him  and 
his  family,  I  took  hold  of  his  hair,  and  his  head 
turned  any  way,  his  neck  was  so  limber.  Whereupon 
I  took  his  head  in  both  my  hands,  and,  setting  my 
knees  against  the  tree,  I  raised  his  head,  and  per- 
ceived there  was  nothing  out  or  broken  that  way. 

Then  I  put  one  hand  under  his  chin,  and  the  other 
behind  his  head,  and  raised  his  head  two  or  three 
times  with  all  my  strength,  and  brought  it  in.  I  soon 


614         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

perceived  his  neck  began  to  grow  stiff  again,  and  then 
he  began  to  rattle  in  his  throat,  and  quickly  after  to 
breathe. 

The  people  were  amazed;  but  I  bade  them  have  a 
good  heart,  be  of  good  faith,  and  carry  him  into  the 
house.  They  did  so,  and  set  him  by  the  fire.  I  bade 
them  get  him  something  warm  to  drink,  and  put  him 
to  bed.  After  he  had  been  in  the  house  a  while  he 
began  to  speak;  but  did  not  know  where  he  had  been. 

The  next  day  we  passed  away  (and  he  with  us, 
pretty  well)  about  sixteen  miles  to  a  meeting  at  Mid- 
dletown,  through  woods  and  bogs,  and  over  a  river; 
where  we  swam  our  horses,  and  got  over  ourselves 
upon  a  hollow  tree.  Many  hundred  miles  did  he 
travel  with  us  after  this." 

To  this  meeting  came  most  of  the  people  of  the 
town.  A  glorious  meeting  we  had,  and  the  Truth  was 
over  all ;  blessed  be  the  great  Lord  God  for  ever ! 
After  the  meeting  we  went  to  Middletown  Harbor, 
about  five  miles,  in  order  to  take  our  long  journey 
next  morning,  through  the  woods  towards  Maryland ; 
having  hired  Indians  for  our  guides. 

I  determined  to  pass  through  the  woods  on  the 


"  This  narrative  has  sometimes  been  questioned  and 
sometimes  been  taken  to  prove  that  Fox  was  an  instru- 
ment in  working  miracles.  Neither  solution  is  satis- 
factory, or  necessary.  Recent  medical  annals  give  simi- 
lar cases.  A  dislocated  neck  is  not  necessarily  fatal. 
The  incident  shows  again  Fox's  readiness  in  dealing 
coolly  and  skillfully  with  hard  situations.  He  endeav- 
ors to  do  what  can  be  done. 


Two  Years  in  America.  515 


other  side  of  Delaware  bay,  that  we  might  head  the 
creeks  and  rivers  as  much  as  possible.  On  the  9th 
of  the  Seventh  month  we  set  forwards,  and  passed 
through  many  Indian  towns,  and  over  some  rivers 
and  bogs;  and  when  we  had  ridden  about  forty  miles, 
we  made  a  fire  at  night,  and  lay  down  by  it.  As  we 
came  among  the  Indians,  we  declared  the  day  of  the 
Lord  to  them. 

Next  day  we  travelled  fifty  miles,  as  we  computed; 
and  at  night,  finding  an  old  house,  which  the  Indians 
had  forced  the  people  to  leave,  we  made  a  fire  and 
stayed  there,  at  the  head  of  Delaware  Bay.^* 

^*  It  is  not  easy  to  follow  Fox's  scanty  itinerary. 
There  are  two  Tinicum  islands  in  the  Delaware  (it  is 
called  "  Dinidock  "  in  the  first  edition  of  the  Journal). 
The  crossing  was  probably  made  at  the  upper  island, 
which  is  just  in  front  of  what  is  now  the  city  of  Burling- 
ton, though  this  would  be  hardly  ninety  miles  from  Mid- 
dletown  Harbour,  as  he  estimates.  He  then  travels 
down  across  the  very  country  which  Friends  afterwards 
settled  under  the  leadership  of  William  Penn.  There 
is  evidence  to  show  that  the  idea  of  forming  in  America 
a  colony  of  Friends  originated  with  George  Fox.  We 
learn  from  a  letter  of  Josiah  Coale,  a  Friend  who  had 
travelled  extensively  among  the  Indians,  that  George 
Fox  had  commissioned  him  to  treat  with  the  Susque- 
hanna Indians  for  the  purchase  of  a  strip  of  territory. 
Fox's  letter  is  not  preserved,  but  Josiah  Coale's  answer 
isamongthe  Swarthmore  MSS.,  and  is  as  follows:  "Dear 
George, — As  concerning  Friends  buying  a  piece  of  land 
of  the  Susquehanna  Indians,  I  have  spoken  of  it  to 
them  and  told  them  what  thou  said  concerning  it,  but 
their  answer  was  that  there  is  no  land  that  is  habitable 


516         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


Next  day  we  swam  our  horses  over  a  river  about  a 
mile  wide,  first  to  an  island  called  Upper  Tinieum, 
and  then  to  the  mainland;  having  hired  Indians  to 
help  us  over  in  their  canoes.  This  day  we  rode  but 
about  thirty  miles,  and  came  at  night  to  a  Swede's 
house,  where  we  got  a  little  straw,  and  stayed  that 
night. 

l^ext  day,  having  hired  another  guide,  we  travelled 
about  forty  miles  through  the  woods,  and  made  a  fire 

or  fit  for  situation  beyond  Baltimore's  liberty  [i.  e.,  be- 
yond the  domain  of  Lord  Baltimore,]  till  they  come  to 
or  near  the  Susquehanna  fort,  and  besides  William  Ful- 
ler, who  was  the  chief  man  amongst  Friends  with  the 
Indians  ...  is  withdrawn  at  present,  ...  so  that  with- 
out him  little  can  be  done  at  present  with  the  Indians; 
and  besides,  these  Indians  are  at  war  with  another  na- 
tion of  Indians,  who  are  very  numerous,  and  it  is  doubt- 
ed by  some  that  in  a  little  space  they  will  be  so  de- 
stroyed that  they  will  not  be  a  people.  Thine  in  the 
truth,  JOSIAH  COALE." 

This  letter  was  written  in  1660,  twelve  years  before 
this  American  visit.  About  the  same  time  William 
Penn's  thoughts  were  turning  in  the  same  direction. 
Writing  about  Pennsylvania  in  1681,  he  says:  "This  I 
can  say,  that  I  had  an  opening  of  joy  as  to  these  parts 
in  the  year  1661,  at  Oxford  twenty  years  since."  By 
a  purchase  made  through  John  Fenwick  and  Edward 
Byllynge,  Friends  obtained  possession  of  a  great  sec- 
tion of  New  Jersey  in  1674,  the  year  after  George  Fox 
arrived  in  England.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  his 
thoughts  were  on  future  settlements  here  as  he  trav- 
elled through  what  is  now  Pennsylvania  and  New 
Jersey. 


Two  Years  in  America.  517 


at  night,  by  which  we  lay,  and  dried  ourselves;  for 
we  were  often  wet  in  our  travels. 

The  next  day  we  passed  over  a  desperate  river,^* 
which  had  in  it  many  rocks  and  broad  stones,  very 
hazardous  to  us  and  our  horses.  Thence  we  came  to 
Christiana  Eiver,  where  we  swam  over  our  horses, 
and  went  over  ourselves  in  canoes;  but  the  sides  of 
this  river  were  so  bad  and  miry,  that  some  of  the 
horses  were  almost  laid  up. 

Thence  we  came  to  New  Castle,*  heretofore 
called  'New  Amsterdam;  and  being  very  weary, 
and  inquiring  in  the  town  where  we  might  buy 
some  corn  for  our  horses,  the  governor  came  and 
invited  me  to  his  house,  and  afterwards  desired  me 
to  lodge  there ;  telling  me  he  had  a  bed  for  me,  and  I 
should  be  welcome.  So  I  stayed,  the  other  Friends 
being  taken  care  of  also. 

This  was  on  a  Seventh-day;  and  he  offering  his 
house  for  a  meeting,  we  had  the  next  day  a  pretty 

*  In  Delaware. 


The  "  desperate  river  "  was  probably  the  Brandy- 
wine,  and  the  Christiana  "  River  "  is  Christiana  Creek, 
formed  from  a  junction  of  Red  Clay  and  White  Clay 
Creeks.  It  finds  the  Delaware  about  two  miles  below 
Wilmington.  The  Bohemia  and  Sassafras  Rivers  are 
two  of  the  many  arms  of  Chesapeake  Bay.  The  "  Kent- 
ish Shore  "  is  the  shore  of  Kent  County,  Maryland. 
Tredhaven  (or  Thirdhaven)  is  farther  down  the  Bay, 
where  the  boats  were  so  thick  it  seemed  like  the 
Thames!  A  meeting  was  established  here  which  re- 
mains until  the  present  time. 


518         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

large  one;  for  most  of  the  town  were  at  it.  Here  had 
never  been  a  meeting  before,  nor  any  within  a  great 
way;  but  this  was  a  very  precious  one.  Many  were 
tender,  and  confessed  to  the  Truth,  and  some  re- 
ceived it;  blessed  be  the  Lord  for  ever ! 

The  16th  of  the  Seventh  month  we  set  forward, 
and  travelled,  as  near  as  we  could  compute,  about 
fifty  miles,  through  the  woods  and  over  the  bogs, 
heading  Bohemia  River  and  Sassafras  Eiver.  At 
night  we  made  a  fire  in  the  woods,  and  lay  there  all 
night.  It  being  rainy  weather,  we  got  under  some 
thick  trees  for  shelter,  and  afterwards  dried  ourselves 
again  by  the  fire. 

Next  day  we  waded  through  Chester  River,  a  very 
broad  water,  and  afterwards  passing  through  many 
bad  bogs,  lay  that  night  also  in  the  woods  by  a  fire, 
not  having  gone  above  thirty  miles  that  day.  The 
day  following  we  travelled  hard,  though  we  had  some 
troublesome  bogs  in  our  way;  we  rode  about  fifty 
miles,  and  got  safe  that  night  to  Robert  Harwood's, 
at  Miles  River,*  in  Maryland. 

This  was  the  18th  of  the  Seventh  month;  and 
though  we  were  very  weary,  and  much  dirtied  with 
the  bogs,  yet  hearing  of  a  meeting  next  day,  we  went 
to  it,  and  from  it  to  John  Edmundson's.  Thence  we 
went  three  or  four  miles  by  water  to  a  meeting  on  the 
First-day  following. 

At  this  meeting  a  judge's  wife,  who  had  never  been 
at  any  of  our  meetings  before,  was  reached.  She  said 
after  the  meeting  that  she  would  rather  hear  us  once 

*  Now  St.  Michael'8. 


Two  Years  in  America.  519 


than  the  priests  a  thousand  times.  Many  others  also 
were  well  satisfied;  for  the  power  of  the  Lord  was 
eminently  with  us.  Blessed  for  ever  be  His  holy 
name ! 

We  passed  thence  about  twenty-two  miles,  and  had 
a  good  meeting  upon  the  Kentish  shore,  to  which,  one 
of  the  judges  came.  After  another  good  meeting 
hard-by,  at  William  Wilcock's,  where  we  had  good 
service  for  the  Lord,  we  went  by  water  about  twenty 
miles  to  a  very  large  meeting,  where  were  some  hun- 
dreds of  people,  four  justices  of  peace,  the  high 
sheriff  of  Delaware,  and  others.  There  were  also  an 
Indian  emperor  or  governor,  and  two  others  of  the 
chief  men  among  the  Indians. 

With  these  Indians  I  had  a  good  opportunity.  I 
spoke  to  them  by  an  interpreter:  they  heard  the 
Truth  attentively,  and  were  very  loving.  A  blessed 
meeting  this  was,  of  great  service  both  for  convinc- 
ing and  for  establishing  in  the  Truth  those  that  were 
convinced  of  it.  Blessed  be  the  Lord,  who  causeth 
His  blessed  Truth  to  spread ! 

After  the  meeting  there  came  to  me  a  woman 
whose  husband  was  one  of  the  judges  of  that  coun- 
try, and  a  member  of  the  assembly  there.  She  told 
me  that  her  husband  was  sick,  not  likely  to  live;  and 
desired  me  to  go  home  with  her  to  see  him.  It  was 
three  miles  to  her  house,  and  I  being  just  come  hot 
out  of  the  meeting,  it  was  hard  for  me  then  to  go; 
yet  considering  the  service,  I  got  a  horse,  went  with 
her,  visited  her  husband,  and  spoke  to  him  what  the 
Lord  gave  me.    The  man  was  much  refreshed,  and 


620         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

finely  raised  up  by  the  power  of  tlie  Lord;  and  after- 
wards came  to  our  meetings. 

I  went  back  to  the  Friends  that  night,  and  next 
day  we  departed  thence  about  nineteen  or  twenty 
miles  to  Tredhaven  creek,  to  John  Edmundson's 
again;  whence,  the  3d  of  Eighth  month,  we  went  to 
the  General  Meeting  for  all  Maryland  Friends.** 

This  held  five  days.  The  first  three  meetings  were 
for  public  worship,  to  which  people  of  all  sorts  came; 
the  other  two  were  men's  and  women's  meetings.  To 
the  public  meetings  came  many  Protestants  of  divers 
sorts,  and  some  Papists.  Amongst  these  were  sev- 
eral magistrates  and  their  vpives,  and  other  persons  of 
chief  account  in  the  country.  There  were  so  many 
besides  Friends  that  it  was  thought  there  were  some- 
times a  thousand  people  at  one  of  these  meetings;  so 
that,  though  they  had  not  long  before  enlarged  their 
meeting-place,  and  made  it  as  large  again  as  it  was 
before,  it  could  not  contain  the  people. 

I  went  by  boat  every  day  four  or  five  miles  to  it, 
and  there  were  so  many  boats  at  that  time  passing 
upon  the  river  that  it  was  almost  like  the  Thames. 
The  people  said  there  were  never  so  many  boats  seen 
there  together  before,  and  one  of  the  justices  said  he 
had  never  seen  so  many  people  together  in  that  coun- 
try before.  It  was  a  very  heavenly  meeting,  wherein 
the  presence  of  the  Lord  was  gloriously  manifested. 
Friends  were  sweetly  refreshed,  the  people  generally 


What  is  now  called  Baltimore  Yearly  Meeting  was 
established  in  1672. 


Two  Years  in  America.  521 


satisfied,  and  many  convinced;  for  the  blessed  power 
of  the  Lord  was  over  all;  everlasting  praises  to  His 
holy  name  for  ever ! 

After  the  public  meetings  were  over,  the  men's  and 
women's  meetings  began,  and  were  held  the  other  two 
days;  for  I  had  something  to  impart  to  them  which 
concerned  the  glory  of  God,  the  order  of  the  gospel, 
and  the  government  of  Christ  Jesus. 

When  these  meetings  were  over,  we  took  our  leave 
of  Friends  in  those  parts,  whom  we  left  well  estab- 
lished in  the  Truth. 

On  the  10th  of  the  Eighth  month  we  went  thence 
about  thirty  miles  by  water,  passing  by  Crane's 
Island,  Swan  Island,  and  Kent  Island,  in  very  foul 
weather  and  much  rain.  Our  boat  being  open,  we 
were  not  only  very  much  wet,  but  in  great  danger  of 
being  overset ;  insomuch  that  some  thought  we  could 
not  escape  being  cast  away.  But,  blessed  be  God,  we 
fared  very  well,  and  came  safely  to  shore  next  morn- 
ing. 

Having  got  to  a  little  house,  dried  our  clothes  by 
the  fire,  and  refreshed  ourselves  a  little,  we  took  to 
our  boat  again;  and  put  off  from  land,  sometimes  sail- 
ing and  sometimes  rowing;  but  having  very  foul 
weather  that  day  too,  we  could  not  get  above  twelve 
miles  forward.  At  night  we  got  to  land,  and  made  a 
fire;  some  lay  by  that,  and  some  by  a  fire  at  a  house  a 
little  way  off. 

Next  morning  we  passed  over  the  Great  Bay,  and 
sailed  about  forty  miles  that  day.  Making  to  shore  at 
night,  we  lay  there,  some  in  the  boat,  and  some  at  an 
ale-house. 


522         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

Next  morning  being  First-day,  we  went  six  or 
seven  miles  to  the  house  of  a  Friend  who  was  a  jus- 
tice of  the  peace,  where  we  had  a  meeting.  This  was 
a  little  above  the  head  of  the  Great  Bay.  We  had 
been  almost  four  days  on  the  water,  and  were  weary 
with  rowing,  yet  all  was  very  well;  blessed  and 
praised  be  the  Lord ! 

We  went  next  day  to  another  Friend's  house,  near 
the  head  of  Hatton's  Island,  where  we  had  good  ser- 
vice amongst  Friends  and  others;  as  we  had  also  the 
day  following  at  the  house  of  George  Wilson,  a 
Friend  that  lived  about  three  miles  further,  where  we 
had  a  very  precious  meeting,  there  being  great  ten- 
derness amongst  the  people. 

After  this  meeting  we  sailed  about  ten  miles  to  the 
house  of  James  Frizby,  a  justice  of  the  peace,  where, 
the  16th  of  the  Eighth  month,  we  had  a  very  large 
meeting,  at  which,  besides  Friends,  were  some  hun- 
dreds of  people,  it  was  supposed.  Amongst  them 
were  several  justices,  captains,  and  the  sheriff,  with 
other  persons  of  note. 

A  blessed  heavenly  meeting  this  was;  a  powerful, 
thundering  testimony  for  Truth  was  borne  therein; 
a  great  sense  there  was  upon  the  people,  and  much 
brokenness  and  tenderness  amongst  them. 

We  stayed  till  about  the  eleventh  hour  in  the 
night,  when  the  tide  turned  for  us;  then,  taking  boat, 
we  passed  that  night  and  the  next  day  about  fifty 
miles  to  another  Friend's  house.  The  next  two  days 
we  made  short  journeys  visiting  Friends. 

The  20th  of  the  month  we  had  a  great  meeting  at 
a  place  called  Severn,  where  there  was  a  meeting- 


Two  Years  in  America.  523 


place,  but  not  large  enough  to  hold  the  people. 
Divers  chief  magistrates  were  at  it,  with  many  other 
considerable  people,  and  it  gave  them  generally  great 
satisfaction. 

Two  days  after  we  had  a  meeting  with  some  that 
walked  disorderly,  and  had  good  service  in  it.  Then, 
spending  a  day  or  two  in  visiting  Friends,  we  passed 
to  the  Western  Shore,  and  on  the  25th  had  a  large 
and  precious  meeting  at  William  Coale's,  where  the 
speaker  of  their  assembly,  with  his  wife,  a  justice  of 
peace,  and  several  people  of  quality,  were  present. 

Next  day  we  had  a  meeting,  six  or  seven  miles  fur- 
ther, at  Abraham  Birkhead's,  where  were  many  of 
the  magistrates  and  upper  sort;  and  the  speaker  of 
the  assembly  for  that  country  was  convinced.  A 
blessed  meeting  it  was ;  praised  be  the  Lord ! 

We  travelled  the  next  day;  and  the  day  following, 
the  28th  of  the  Eighth  month,  had  a  large  and  very 
precious  meeting  at  Peter  Sharp's,  on  the  Cliffs, 
between  thirty  and  forty  miles  distant  from  the 
former.  Many  of  the  magistrates  and  upper  rank  of 
people  were  present,  and  a  heavenly  meeting  it  was. 
The  wife  of  one  of  the  Governor's  council  was  con- 
vinced; and  her  husband  was  very  loving  to  Friends. 
A  justice  of  the  peace  from  Virginia  was  convinced, 
and  hath  had  a  meeting  since  at  his  house. 

Some  Papists  were  at  this  meeting,  one  of  whom, 
before  he  came,  threatened  to  dispute  with  me;  but 
he  was  reached  and  could  not  oppose.  Blessed  be  the 
Lord,  the  Truth  reached  into  the  hearts  of  people  be- 
yond words,  and  it  is  of  a  good  savour  amongst  them ! 

After  the  meeting  we  went  about  eighteen  milee  to 


524         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


the  house  of  James  Preston,  a  Friend  that  lived  on 
Patuxent  River.  Thither  came  to  us  an  Indian  king, 
with  his  brother,  to  whom  I  spoke,  and  found  they 
understood  what  I  spoke  of. 

Having  finished  our  service  in  Maryland,  and  in- 
tending to  go  to  Virginia,  we  had  a  meeting  at  Patux- 
ent on  the  4th  of  the  isinth  month,  to  take  our  leave 
of  Friends,  Many  people  of  all  sorts  were  at  it,  and  a 
powerful  meeting  it  was. 

On  the  5th  we  set  sail  for  Virginia,  and  in  three 
days  came  to  a  place  called  Kancemond,  about  two 
hundred  miles  from  Maryland.  In  this  voyage  we 
met  with  foul  weather,  storms,  and  rain,  and  lay  in 
the  woods  by  a  fire  in  the  night. 

At  Nancemond  lived  a  Friend  called  the  widow 
Wright.  'Next  day  we  had  a  great  meeting  there,  of 
Friends  and  others.  There  came  to  it  Colonel  Dewes, 
with  several  other  officers  and  magistrates,  who  were 
much  taken  with  the  Truth  declared. 

After  this,  we  hastened  towards  Carolina ;  yet  had 
several  meetings  by  the  way,  wherein  we  had  good 
service  for  the  Lord;  one  about  four  irdles  from 
Nancemond  Water,  which  was  very  precious;  and 
there  was  a  men's  and  women's  meeting  settled,  for 
taking  care  of  the  affairs  of  the  Church. 

Another  very  good  one  also  we  had  at  William 
Yarrow's,  at  Pagan  Creek,  which  was  so  large,  that 
we  were  fain  to  be  abroad,  the  house  not  being  large 
enough  to  contain  the  people.  A  great  openness  there 
was;  the  sound  of  Truth  spread  abroad,  and  had  a 
good  savour  in  the  hearts  of  people;  the  Lord  have 
the  glory  for  ever ! 


Two  Years  in  America. 


525 


After  this  our  way  to  Carolina  grew  worse,  being 
much  of  it  plashy,  and  pretty  full  of  great  bogs  and 
swamps;  so  that  we  were  commonly  wet  to  the  knees, 
and  lay  abroad  at  nights  in  the  woods  by  a  fire. 

One  night  we  got  to  a  poor  house  at  Sommer- 
town,*  and  lay  by  the  fire.  The  woman  of  the 
house  had  a  sense  of  God  upon  her.  The  report 
of  our  travel  had  reached  thither,  and  drawn  some 
that  lived  beyond  Sommertown  to  that  house,  in  ex- 
pectation to  see  and  hear  us  (so  acceptable  was  the 
sound  of  Truth  in  that  wilderness  country) ;  but  they 
missed  us. 

The  next  day,  the  21st  of  the  Ninth  month,  having 
travelled  hard  through  the  woods  and  over  many  bogs 
and  swamps,  we  reached  Bonner's  Creek;  and  there 
we  lay  that  night  by  the  fireside,  the  woman  lending 
us  a  mat  to  lie  on. 

This  was  the  first  house  we  came  to  in  Carolina. 
Here  we  left  our  horses,  over-wearied  with  travel. 
Thence  we  went  down  the  creek  in  a  canoe,  to  Maco- 
comocock  River,  1"  and  came  to  Hugh  Smith's 
house,  where  the  people  of  other  professions 
came  to  see  us  (for  there  were  no  Friends  in  that  part 
of  the  country),  and  many  of  them  received  us  gladly. 

Amongst  others  came  ISTathaniel  Batts,  who  had 
been  Governor  of  Roanoke;  he  went  by  the  name  of 
Captain  Batts,  and  had  been  a  rude,  desperate  man. 
He  asked  me  about  a  woman  in  Cumberland,  who,  he 
said  he  had  been  told,  had  been  healed  by  our  prayers, 
and  by  laying  on  of  hands,  after  she  had  been  long 


•Now  Somerton. 


fNow  Chowan. 


526         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

sick,  and  given  over  by  the  physicians;  and  he  desired 
to  know  the  certainty  of  it.  I  told  him  we  did  not 
glory  in  such  things,  but  many  such  things  had  been 
done  by  the  power  of  Christ. 

Not  far  from  here  we  had  a  meeting  among  the 
people,  and  they  were  taken  with  the  Truth;  blessed 
be  the  Lord !  Then  passing  down  the  river  Maratick  * 
in  a  canoe,  we  went  down  the  bay  Coney-Hoe,  and 
came  to  the  house  of  a  captain,  who  was  very  loving, 
and  lent  us  his  boat,  for  we  were  much  wet  in  the 
canoe,  the  water  splashing  in  upon  us.  With  this 
boat  we  went  to  the  Governor's  house;  but  the  water 
in  some  places  was  so  shallow  that  the  boat,  being 
laden,  could  not  swim;  so  we  were  fain  to  put  off  our 
shoes  and  stockings,  and  wade  through  the  water 
some  distance. 

The  Governor,  with  his  wife,  received  us  lovingly; 
but  a  doctor  there  would  needs  dispute  with  us.  And 
truly  his  opposing  us  was  of  good  service,  giving  occa- 
sion for  the  opening  of  many  things  to  the  people  con- 
cerning the  Light  and  Spirit  of  God,  which  he  denied 
to  be  in  everyone;  and  aflSrmed  that  it  was  not  in  the 
Indians. 

Whereupon  I  called  an  Indian  to  us,  and  asked  him 
whether  when  he  lied,  or  did  wrong  to  any  one,  there 
was  not  something  in  him  that  reproved  him  for  it. 
He  said  there  was  such  a  thing  in  him,  that  did  so 
reprove  him ;  and  he  was  ashamed  when  he  had  done 
wrong,  or  spoken  wrong.  So  we  shamed  the  doctor 
before  the  Governor  and  the  people;  insomuch  that 


*  Now  Roanoke. 


Two  Years  in  America.  527 

the  poor  man  ran  out  so  far  that  at  length  he  would 
not  own  the  Scriptures. 

We  tarried  at  the  Governor's  that  night;  and  next 
morning  he  very  courteously  walked  with  us  himself 
about  two  miles  through  the  woods,  to  a  place 
whither  he  had  sent  our  boat  about  to  meet  us.  Tak- 
ing leave  of  him,  wc  entered  our  boat,  and  went  that 
day  about  thirty  miles  to  the  house  of  Joseph  Scott, 
one  of  the  representatives  of  the  coimtry. 

There  we  had  a  sound,  precious  meeting;  the  peo- 
ple were  tender,  and  much  desired  after  meetings.  At 
a  house  about  four  miles  further,  we  had  another 
meeting,  to  which  came  the  Governor's  secretary, 
who  was  chief  secretary  of  the  province,  and  had 
been  formerly  convinced. 

Having  visited  the  north  part  of  Carolina,  and 
made  a  little  entrance  for  Truth  upon  the  people 
there,  we  began  to  return  towards  Virginia,  having 
several  meetings  in  our  way,  wherein  we  had  veiy 
good  service  for  the  Lord,  the  people  being  generally 
tender  and  open;  blessed  be  the  Lord ! 

We  lay  one  night  at  the  hoiise  of  the  secretary,  to 
get  to  which  gave  us  much  trouble;  for  the  water 
being  shallow,  we  could  not  bring  our  boat  to  shore ; 
but  the  secretary's  wife,  seeing  our  strait,  came  her- 
self in  a  canoe  (her  husband  being  from  home)  and 
brought  us  to  land. 

'Next  morning  our  boat  was  sunk;  but  we  got  her 
up,  mended  her,  and  went  away  in  her  that  day  about 
twenty-four  miles,  the  water  being  rough,  and  the 
winds  high;  but  the  great  power  of  God  was  seen,  in 
carrying  us  safe  in  that  rotten  boat. 


528         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

Upon  our  return  we  had  a  very  precious  meeting 
at  Hugh  Smith's;  praised  be  the  Lord  for  ever !  The 
people  were  very  tender,  and  very  good  service  we 
had  amongst  them.  There  was  at  this  meeting  an 
Indian  captain,  who  was  very  loving;  and  acknowl- 
edged it  to  be  Truth  that  was  spoken.  There  was  also 
one  of  the  Indian  priests,  whom  they  called  a  Pawaw, 
who  sat  soberly  among  the  people. 

The  9th  of  the  Tenth  month  we  got  back  to  Bon- 
ner's Creek,  where  we  had  left  our  horses,  having 
spent  about  eighteen  days  in  the  north  of  Carolina. 

Our  horses  having  rested,  we  set  forward  for  Vir- 
ginia again,  travelling  through  the  woods  and  bogs  as 
far  as  we  could  well  reach  that  day,  and  at  night  lying 
by  a  fire  in  the  woods.  Next  day  we  had  a  tedious 
journey  through  bogs  and  swamps,  and  were  exceed- 
ingly wet  and  dirty  all  the  day,  but  dried  ourselves  at 
night  by  a  fire. 

We  got  that  night  to  Sommertown.  As  we  came 
near,  the  woman  of  the  house,  seeing  us,  spoke  to  her 
son  to  keep  up  their  dogs;  for  both  in  Virginia  and 
Carolina  (living  lonely  in  the  woods)  they  generally 
keep  great  dogs  to  guard  their  houses.  But  the  son 
said,  "  There  is  no  need ;  our  dogs  will  not  meddle 
with  these  people."  When  we  were  come  into  the 
liouse,  she  told  us  we  were  like  the  children  of  Israel, 
against  whom  the  dogs  did  not  move  their  tongues. 
Here  we  lay  in  our  clothes  by  the  fire,  as  we  had  done 
many  a  night  before. 

Next  day  we  had  a  meeting;  for  the  people,  having 
been  informed  of  us,  had  a  great  desire  to  hear  us; 
and  a  very  good  meeting  we  had  among  them,  where 


Two  Years  in  America.  529 


we  never  had  had  one  before;  praised  be  the  Lord  for 
ever !   After  the  meeting  we  hastened  away. 

When  we  had  ridden  about  twenty  miles,  calling  at 
a  house  to  inqmre  the  way,  the  people  desired  us  to 
tarry  all  night  with  them;  which  we  did. 

Next  day  we  came  among  Friends,  after  we  had 
travelled  about  an  hundred  miles  from  Carolina  into 
Virginia :  in  which  time  we  observed  great  variety  of 
climates,  having  passed  in  a  few  days  from  a  very 
cold  to  a  warm  and  spring-like  country.  But  the 
power  of  the  Lord  is  the  same  in  all,  is  over  all,  and 
doth  reach  the  good  in  all;  praised  be  the  Lord  for 
ever ! 

We  spent  about  three  weeks  in  travelling  through 
Virginia,  mostly  amongst  Friends,  having  large  and 
precious  meetings  in  several  parts  of  the  country;  as 
at  the  widow  Wright's,  where  many  of  the  magis- 
trates, officers,  and  other  high  people  came.  A  most 
heavenly  meeting  we  had;  wherein  the  power  of  the 
Lord  was  so  great  that  it  struck  a  dread  upon  the 
assembly,  chained  all  down,  and  brought  reverence 
upon  the  people's  minds. 

Among  the  officers  was  a  major,  kinsman  to  the 
priest,  who  told  me  that  the  priest  had  threatened  to 
come  and  oppose  us.  But  the  Lord's  power  was  too 
strong  for  him,  and  stopped  him ;  and  we  were  quiet 
and  peaceable.  The  people  were  wonderfully  affected 
with  the  testimony  of  Truth ;  blessed  be  the  Lord  for 
ever! 

Having  finished  what  service  lay  upon  us  in  Vir- 
ginia, on  the  30th  we  set  sail  in  an  open  sloop  for 
Maryland.    But  having  a  great  storm,  and  being 


530         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


much  wet,  we  were  glad  to  get  to  shore  before  night ; 
and,  walking  to  a  house  at  Willoughby  Point,  we  got 
lodging  there  that  night.  The  woman  of  the  house 
was  a  widow,  and  a  very  tender  person;  she  had 
never  received  Friends  before;  but  she  received  us 
very  kindly,  and  with  tears  in  her  eyes. 

We  returned  to  our  boat  in  the  morning,  and 
hoisted  our  sail,  getting  forward  as  fast  as  we  could. 
But  towards  evening,  a  storm  rising,  we  had  much 
ado  to  get  to  shore;  and  our  boat  being  open,  the 
water  splashed  often  in,  and  sometimes  over  us,  so 
that  we  were  completely  wet.  Being  got  to  land,  we 
made  a  fire  in  the  woods  to  warm  and  dry  us,  and 
there  we  lay  all  night,  the  wolves  howling  about  us. 

On  the  1st  of  the  Eleventh  month  we  sailed  again. 
The  wind  being  against  us,  we  made  but  little  head- 
way, and  were  fain  to  get  to  shore  at  Point  Comfort, 
where  yet  we  found  but  small  comfort.  For  the 
weather  was  so  cold  that  though  we  made  a  good  fire 
in  the  woods  to  lie  by,  the  water  that  we  had  brought 
for  our  use  was  frozen  near  the  fireside.  We  made 
to  sea  again  next  day;  but  the  wind  being  strong  and 
against  us,  we  advanced  but  little.  We  were  glad  to 
get  to  land  again,  and  travelled  about  to  find  some 
house  where  we  might  buy  provisions,  for  our  store 
was  spent. 

That  night,  also,  we  lay  in  the  woods;  and  so 
extremely  cold  was  the  weather,  the  wind  blowing 
high,  and  the  frost  and  snow  being  great,  that  it  was 
hard  for  some  of  us  to  abide  it. 

On  the  3d,  the  wind  setting  pretty  fair,  we  fetched 
it  up  by  sailing  and  rowing,  and  got  that  night  to  Mil- 


Two  Years  in  America. 


531 


ford  Haven,  where  we  lay  at  Eichard  Long's,  near 
Quince's  Island. 

Next  day  we  passed  by  Eappahannock  Eiver, 
where  dwell  many  people;  and  Friends  had  a  meeting 
there  at  the  house  of  a  justice,  who  had  formerly 
been  at  a  meeting  where  I  was. 

We  passed  over  Potomac  Eiver  also,  the  winds 
being  high,  the  water  very  rough,  our  sloop  open, 
and  the  weather  extremely  cold;  and  had  a  meeting 
there  also,  where  some  people  were  convinced. 
When  we  parted  thence,  some  of  our  company  went 
amongst  them.  We  next  steered  our  course  for 
Patuxent  Eiver.  I  sat  at  the  helm  the  greater  part 
of  the  day,  and  some  of  the  night.  About  the  first 
hour  in  the  morning  we  reached  James  Preston's 
house,  on  Patuxent  Eiver,  which  is  about  two  hun- 
dred miles  from  ISTancemond  in  Virginia. 

We  were  very  weary;  yet  the  next  day  being  the 
first  of  the  week,  we  went  to  the  meeting  not  far 
from  there.  The  same  week  we  went  to  an  Indian 
king's  cabin,  where  were  several  of  the  Indians,  with 
whom  we  had  a  good  opportunity  to  discourse;  and 
they  carried  themselves  very  lovingly.  We  went 
also  that  week  to  a  general  meeting;  then  about 
eighteen  miles  further  to  John  Geary's,  where  we 
had  a  very  precious  meeting;  praised  be  the  Lord 
God  for  ever ! 

After  this  the  cold  grew  so  exceedingly  sharp,  the 
frost  and  snow  so  extreme,  beyond  what  was  usual  in 
that  country,  that  we  could  hardly  endure  it. 
!N^either  was  it  easy  or  safe  to  stir  out;  yet  we  got, 
"with  some  difficulty,  six  miles  through  the  snow  to 


532         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

John  Mayor's,  where  we  met  with  some  Friends 
come  from  New  England,  whom  we  had  left  there 
when  we  came  away;  and  glad  we  were  to  see  each 
other,  after  so  long  and  tedious  travels. 

By  these  Friends  we  understood  that  William 
Edmundson,  having  been  at  Khode  Island  and  New 
England,  was  gone  thence  for  Ireland ;  that  Solomon 
Eccles,  coming  from  Jamaica  and  landing  at  Boston 
in  New  England,  was  taken  at  a  meeting  there,  and 
banished  to  Barbadoes;  that  John  Stubbs  and  an- 
other Friend  were  gone  into  New  Jersey,  and  several 
other  Friends  to  Barbadoes,  Jamaica,  and  the  Lee- 
ward Islands.  It  was  matter  of  joy  to  us  to  under- 
stand that  the  work  of  the  Lord  went  on  and  pros- 
pered, and  that  Friends  were  unwearied  and  diligent 
in  the  service. 

The  27th  of  the  Eleventh  month  we  had  a  very 
precious  meeting  in  a  tobacco-house.  The  next  day 
we  returned  to  James  Preston's,  about  eighteen 
miles  distant.  When  we  came  there,  we  found  his 
house  had  been  burnt  to  the  ground  the  night  before, 
through  the  carelessness  of  a  maid-servant;  so  we 
lay  three  nights  on  the  ground  by  the  fire,  the 
weather  being  very  cold. 

We  made  an  observation  which  was  somewhat 
strange,  but  certainly  true;  that  one  day,  in  the 
midst  of  this  cold  weather,  the  wind  turning  into  the 
south,  it  grew  so  hot  that  we  could  hardly  bear  the 
heat;  and  the  next  day  and  night,  the  wind  chopping 
back  into  the  north,  we  could  hardly  endure  the 
cold. 

Having  travelled  through  most  parts  of  that  coun- 


Two  Years  in  America.  533 


try,  and  visited  most  of  the  plantations,  and  having 
sounded  the  alarm  to  all  people  where  we  came,  and 
proclaimed  the  day  of  God's  salvation  amongst  them, 
we  found  our  spirits  began  to  be  clear  of  these  parts 
of  the  world,  and  draw  towards  Old  England  again. 
Yet  we  were  desirous,  and  felt  freedom  from  the 
Lord,  to  stay  over  the  general  meeting  for  the  prov- 
ince of  Maryland,  which  drew  nigh;  that  we  might 
see  Friends  generally  together  before  we  departed. 

Spending  our  time  in  the  interim  in  visiting 
Friends  and  Friendly  people,  in  attending  meetings 
about  the  Cliffs  and  Patuxent,  and  in  writing 
answers  to  cavilling  objections  which  some  of  Truth's 
adversaries  had  raised  and  spread  abroad  to  liinder 
people  from  receiving  the  Truth,  we  were  not  idle, 
but  laboured  in  the  work  of  the  Lord  until  that  gen- 
eral provincial  meeting  came  on,  which  began  on  the 
17th  of  the  Third  month,  and  lasted  four  days.  On 
the  first  of  these  the  men  and  women  had  their  meet- 
ings for  business,  wherein  the  affairs  of  the  Church 
were  taken  care  of,  and  many  things  relating  thereto 
were  opened  unto  them,  to  their  edification  and  com- 
fort. 

The  other  three  days  were  spent  in  public  meetings 
for  the  worship  of  God,  at  which  divers  of  consid- 
erable account  in  the  government,  and  many  others, 
were  present.  These  were  generally  satisfied,  and 
many  of  them  reached;  for  it  was  a  wonderful,  glori- 
ous meeting,  and  the  mighty  presence  of  the  Lord 
was  seen  and  felt  over  all;  blessed  and  praised  for 
ever  be  His  holy  name,  who  over  all  giveth  dominion ! 

!After  this  meeting  we  took  our  leave  of  Friends, 


534         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

parting  in  great  tenderness,  in  the  sense  of  the  heav- 
enly life  and  virtuous  power  of  the  Lord  that  was 
livingly  felt  amongst  us;  and  went  by  water  to  the 
place  where  we  were  to  take  shipping,  many  Friends 
accompanying  us  thither  and  tarrying  with  us  that 
night. 

Next  day,  the  21st  of  the  Third  month,  1673,  we 
set  sail  for  England;  the  same  day  Richard  Covell 
came  on  board  our  ship,  having  had  his  own  taken 
from  him  by  the  Dutch. 

We  had  foul  weather  and  contrary  winds,  which 
caused  us  to  cast  anchor  often,  so  that  we  were  till 
the  31st  ere  we  could  get  past  the  capes  of  Virginia 
and  out  into  the  main  sea.  But  after  this  we  made 
good  speed,  and  on  the  28th  of  the  Fourth  month  cast 
anchor  at  King's  Road,  which  is  the  harbour  for  Bris- 
tol. 

We  had  on  our  passage  very  high  winds  and  tem- 
pestiious  weather,  which  made  the  sea  exceedingly 
rough,  the  waves  rising  like  mountains;  so  that  the 
masters  and  sailors  wondered  at  it,  and  said  they  had 
never  seen  the  like  before.  But  though  the  wind 
was  strong  it  set  for  the  most  part  with  us,  so  that 
we  sailed  before  it;  and  the  great  Grod  who  commands 
the  winds,  who  is  Lord  of  heaven,  of  earth,  and  the 
seas,  and  whose  wonders  are  seen  in  the  deep,  steered 
our  course  and  preserved  us  from  many  imminent 
dangers.  The  same  good  hand  of  Providence  that 
went  with  us,  and  carried  us  safely  over,  watched 
over  us  in  our  return,  and  brought  us  safely  back 
again;  thanksgiving  and  praises  be  to  his  holy  name 
for  ever ! 


Two  Years  in  America. 


535 


Many  sweet  and  precious  meetings  we  had  on 
board  the  ship  during  this  voyage  (commonly  two  a 
week),  wherein  the  blessed  presence  of  the  Lord  did 
greatly  refresh  us,  and  often  break  in  upon  and  ten- 
der the  company. 

When  we  came  into  Bristol  harbour,  there  lay 
a  man-of-war,  and  the  press-master  came  on  board 
to  impress  our  men.  We  had  a  meeting  at  that  time 
in  the  ship  with  the  seamen,  before  we  went  to  shore; 
and  the  press-master  sat  down  with  us,  stayed  the 
meeting,  and  was  well  satisfied  with  it.  After  the 
meeting  I  spoke  to  him  to  leave  in  our  ship  two  of 
the  men  he  had  impressed,  for  he  had  impressed  four, 
one  of  whom  was  a  lame  man.  He  said,  "  At  your 
request  I  will." 

We  went  on  shore  that  afternoon,  and  got  to 
Shirehampton.  We  procured  horses  and  rode  to  Bris- 
tol that  night,  where  Friends  received  us  with  great 
joy.  In  the  evening  T  wrote  a  letter  to  my  wife,  to 
give  her  notice  of  my  landing." 


'®  The  letter  began  as  follows: 
"  Dear  heart, 

"  This  day  came  into  Bristol,  near  night,  from  the 
sea;  glory  to  the  Lord  God  over  all  for  ever,  who  was 
our  convoy,  and  steered  our  course!  who  is  the  God  of 
the  whole  earth,  of  the  seas  and  winds,  and  made  the 
clouds  His  chariots,  beyond  all  words,  blessed  be  His 
name  for  ever!  He  is  over  all  in  His  great  power  and 
wisdom.  Amen." 


CHAPTER  XIX. 
tEl}t  Hast  Imprisonment, 

1673-1678. 

Between  this  and  the  fair,  my  wife  came  out  of  the 
North  to  Bristol  to  me,  and  her  son-in-law,  Thomas 
Lower,  with  two  of  her  daughters,^  came  with  her. 
Her  other  son-in-law,  John  Rous,  William  Penn  and 
his  wife,  and  Gerrard  Roberts,  came  from  London, 
and  many  Friends  from  several  parts  of  the  nation, 
to  the  fair;  and  glorious,  powerful  meetings  we  had 
at  that  time,  for  the  Lord's  infinite  power  and  life 
was  over  all. 

I  passed  into  Wiltshire,  where  also  we  had  many 
blessed  meetings.  At  Slattenford,  in  Wiltshire,  we 
had  a  very  good  meeting,  though  we  met  there  with 
much  opposition  from  some  who  had  set  themselves 
against  women's  meetings;  which  I  was  moved  of  the 
Lord  to  recommend  to  Friends,  for  the  benefit  and 


^  When  George  Fox  married  Margaret  Fell  she  had 
one  son,  George,  and  seven  daughters,  as  follows:  Mar- 
garet, who  married  .John  Rous;  Bridget,  who  married 
John  Draper;  Isabel,  twice  married,  first  to  William 
Yeomans,  and  then  to  Abraham  Morrice;  Sarah,  who 
married  William  Mead  (Penn's  companion  in  the  fam- 
ous trial),  Mary,  who  married  Thomas  Lower;  Susanna, 
who  married  William  Ingram,  and  Eachel,  who  mar- 
ried Daniel  Abraham. 


The  Last  Imprisonment.  537 


advantage  of  the  Church  of  Christ,''  "  that  faithful 
women,  who  were  called  to  the  belief  of  the  Truth, 
being  made  partakers  of  the  same  precious  faith,  and 
heirs  of  the  same  everlasting  gospel  of  life  and  salva- 
tion with  the  men,  might  in  like  manner  come  into 
the  possession  and  practice  of  the  gospel  order,  and 
therein  be  helpmeets  unto  the  men  in  the  restora- 
tion,* in  the  service  of  Truth,  in  the  affairs  of  the 
Church,  as  they  are  outwardly  in  civil,  or  temporal 
things;  that  so  all  the  family  of  God,  women  as  well 
as  men,  might  know,  possess,  perform,  and  discharge 
their  oflSces  and  services  in  the  house  of  God,  where- 
by the  poor  might  be  better  taken  care  of,  tb.e 
younger  instructed,  informed,  and  taught  in  the  way 
of  God;  the  loose  and  disorderly  reproved  and  ad- 
monished in  the  fear  of  the  Lord;  the  clearness  of 
persons  proposing  marriage  more  closely  and  strictly 
inquired  into  in  the  wisdom  of  God ;  and  all  the  mem- 
bers of  the  spiritual  body,  the  Church,  might  watch 
over  and  be  helpful  to  each  other  in  love." 

After  a  visit  at  Kingston,  I  went  to  London,  where 
I  found  the  Baptists  and  Socinians,  with  some  old 
apostates,  grown  very  rude,  having  printed  many 
books  against  us;  so  that  I  had  a  great  travail  in  the 
Lord's  power,  before  I  could  get  clear  of  that  city. 
But  blessed  be  the  Lord,  his  power  came  over  them, 

*That  is,  in  reclaiming  those  who  have  gone  astray. 

^  This  is  the  beginning  of  a  serious  opposition  to 
Fox's  system  of  government,  which  finally  grew  to  an 
open  schism.  It  was  headed  by  John  Wilkinson  and 
John  Story.  It  was  one  of  the  most  trying  struggles  of 
Fox's  life. 


538         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


and  all  their  lying,  wicked,  scandalous  books  were  an- 
swered. 

[After  a  visit  with  William  Penn  at  the  latter's 
home  at  Eickmansworth,  he  started  on  his  journey 
north  towards  Swarthmore,  accompanied  by  his  wife, 
two  of  her  daughters  and  his  son-in-law,  Thomas 
Lower,  a  journey  which  led  to  more  than  a  year's  im- 
prisonment— his  last  imprisonment,  as  it  proved.] 

At  night,  as  I  was  sitting  at  supper,  I  felt  I  was 
taken ;  yet  I  said  nothing  then  to  any  one  of  it.  But 
getting  out  next  morning,  we  travelled  into  Worces- 
tershire, and  went  to  John  Halford's,  at  Armscott, 
where  we  had  a  very  large  and  precious  meeting  in 
his  barn,  the  Lord's  powerful  presence  being  emi- 
nently with  and  amongst  us. 

After  the  meeting,  Friends  being  most  of  them 
gone,  as  I  was  sitting  in  the  parlour,  discoursing  with 
some  Friends,  Henry  Parker,  a  justice,  came  to  the 
house,  and  with  him  one  Rowland  Hains,  a  priest  of 
Hunniton,  in  Warwickshire.  This  justice  heard  of 
the  meeting  by  means  of  a  woman  Friend,  who,  be- 
ing nurse  to  a  child  of  his,  asked  leave  of  her  mistress 
to  go  to  the  meeting  to  see  me;  and  she  speaking  of 
it  to  her  husband,  he  and  the  priest  plotted  together 
to  come  and  break  it  up  and  apprehend  me. 

But  from  their  sitting  long  at  dinner,  it  being  the 
day  on  which  his  child  was  sprinkled,  they  did  not 
come  till  the  meeting  was  over,  and  Friends  mostly 
gone.  But  though  there  was  no  meeting  when  they 
came,  yet  I,  who  was  the  person  they  aimed  at,  being 
in  the  house,  Henry  Parker  took  me,  and  Thomas 


The  Last  Imprisonment.  539 


Lower  for  company  with  me;  and  though  he  had 
nothing  to  lay  to  our  charge,  sent  us  both  to  Wor- 
cester jail,  by  a  strange  sort  of  mittimus. 

Being  thus  made  prisoners,  without  any  probable 
appearance  of  being  released  before  the  quarter-ses- 
sions at  soonest,  we  got  some  Friends  to  accompany 
my  wife  and  her  daughter  into  the  north,  and  we 
were  conveyed  to  Worcester.  Thence,  by  the  time 
I  thought  my  wife  would  reach  home,  I  wrote  her  the 
following  letter: 

"  Dear  Heart: 

"  Thou  seemedst  to  be  a  little  grieved  when  I  was 
speaking  of  prisons,  and  when  I  was  taken.  Be  con- 
tent with  the  will  of  the  Lord  God.  For  when  I  was 
at  John  Rous's,  at  Kingston,  I  had  a  sight  of  my 
being  taken  prisoner;  and  when  I  was  at  Bray 
Doily's,  in  Oxfordshire,  as  I  sat  at  supper,  I  saw  I 
was  taken,  and  I  saw  I  had  a  suffering  to  undergo. 
But  the  Lord's  power  is  over  all;  blessed  be  His  holy 
name  forever !  G.  F."  ^ 


^  Margaret  Fox  and  hor  daughter  were  sent  on  under 
the  escort  of  a  Friend,  a  merchant  from  Bristol,  who. 
Fox  says,  "  seemed  to  have  met  us  providentially  to  as- 
sist my  wife  and  her  daughter  in  their  journey  home- 
wards, when  by  our  imprisonment  they  were  deprived 
of  our  company  and  help."  Fox  had  just  received  a 
message  that  his  mother  was  in  her  last  illness,  and  it 
had  been  his  intention  to  part  from  his  wife  in  War- 
wickshire and  have  a  last  visit  with  his  aged  mother. 
This  privilege  never  came,  for  Mary  Fox,  of  Fenny 
Drayton,  died  while  her  son  was  in  Worcester  prison. 


540         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


[This  imprisonment  began  December  17th,  1673. 
The  case  was  brought  before  the  sessions  on  the  21st  of 
January,  1674.  "  When  we  came  in,"  he  writes,  "  they 
were  stricken  with  paleness  in  their  faces,  and  it  was 
some  time  before  anything  was  spoken;  insomuch  that 
a  butcher  in  the  hall  said,  '  What,  are  they  afraid? 
Dare  not  the  justices  speak  to  them?"'  There  was 
manifestly  no  case  against  them  on  the  mittimus,  but 
the  judge,  at  the  suggestion  of  the  "  priest,"  took  the 
easy  way  to  catch  them.  "  You,  Mr.  Fox,  are  a  famous 
man,  and  all  this  may  be  true  which  you  have  said; 
but,  that  we  may  be  the  better  satisfied,  will  you  take 
the  oaths  of  allegiance  and  supremacy?  "  The  usual 
refusal  was  given,  followed  with  the  penalty  of  prcS' 
munire.  During  this  long  imprisonment  he  had  the 
promise  of  a  pardon  from  the  king,  but  he  refused  to 
get  his  liberty  by  any  method  which  implied  that  he 
had  done  wrong  and  needed  pardon.  At  the  next  ses- 
sions, in  April,  he  got  a  temporary  liberty,  so  that  he 
went  to  London  and  attended  yearly  meeting,  after 
which  he  returned  to  Worcester  for  a  new  trial, 
which  ended  in  the  same  old  way.  Meantime  the 
strong  man's  constitution  was  yielding  to  the  incessant 
strain  upon  it.] 

About  this  time  I  had  a  fit  of  sickness,  which 
brought  me  very  low  and  weak  in  my  body;  and  I 
continued  so  a  pretty  while,  insomuch  that  some 
Friends  began  to  doubt  of  my  recovery.  I  seemed 
to  myself  to  be  amongst  the  graves  and  dead  corpses; 
yet  the  invisible  power  did  secretly  support  me,  and 
conveyed  refreshing  strength  into  me,  even  when  I 
was  so  weak  that  I  was  almost  speechless.  One 
night,  as  I  was  lying  awake  upon  my  bed  in  the  glory 


The  Last  Imprisonment.  541 


of  the  Lord  which  was  over  all,  it  was  said  unto  me 
that  the  Lord  had  a  great  deal  more  work  for  me  to 
do  for  Him  before  He  took  me  to  Himself. 

After  this  [about  October  1st,  1674]  my  wife 
went  to  London,  and  spoke  to  the  King,  laying  be- 
fore him  my  long  and  unjust  imprisonment,  with  the 
manner  of  my  being  taken,  and  the  justices'  proceed- 
ings against  me,  in  tendering  me  the  oath  as  a  snare, 
whereby  they  had  praemunired  me;  so  that  I  being 
now  his  prisoner,  it  was  in  his  power,  and  at  his  pleas- 
ure, to  release  me,  which  she  desired. 

The  King  spoke  kindly  to  her,  and  referred  her  to 
the  Lord-Keeper;  to  whom  she  went;  but  she  could 
not  obtain  what  she  desired,  for  he  said  the  King 
could  not  release  me  otherwise  than  by  a  pardon,  and 
I  was  not  free  to  receive  a  pardon,  knowing  I  had 
not  done  evil.  If  I  would  have  been  freed  by  a  par- 
don, I  need  not  have  lain  so  long,  for  the  King  was 
willing  to  give  me  pardon  long  before,  and  told 
Thomas  Moore  that  I  need  not  scruple,  being  re- 
leased by  a  pardon,  for  many  a  man  that  was  as  inno- 
cent as  a  child  had  had  a  pardon  granted  him;  yet  I 
could  not  consent  to  have  one.  For  I  would  rather 
have  lain  in  prison  all  my  days,  than  have  come  out 
in  any  way  dishonourable  to  Truth;  therefore  I  chose 
to  have  the  validity  of  my  indictment  tried  before  the 
judges. 

Thereupon,  having  first  had  the  opinion  of  a  coun- 
sellor upon  it  (Thomas  Corbet,  of  London,  with 
whom  Eichard  Davis,  of  Welchpool,  was  well  ac- 
quainted, and  whom  he  recommended  to  me),  an 
habeas  corpus  was  sent  down  to  Worcester  to  bring 


642         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

me  up  once  more  to  the  King's  Bench  bar,  for  the 
trial  of  the  errors  in  my  indictment.  The  under- 
sheriff  set  forward  with  me  the  4th  of  the  Twelfth 
month. 

We  came  to  London  on  the  8th,  and  on  the  11th  I 
was  brought  before  the  four  judges  at  the  Icing's 
Bench,  where  Counsellor  Corbet  pleaded  my  cause. 
He  started  a  new  plea;  for  he  told  the  judges  that 
they  could  not  imprison  any  man  upon  a  praemunire. 

Chief-Justice  Hale  said,  "  Mr.  Corbet,  you  should 
have  come  sooner,  at  the  beginning  of  the  term,  with 
this  plea." 

He  answered,  "  We  could  not  get  a  copy  of  the  re- 
turn and  the  indictment." 

The  Judge  replied,  "  You  should  have  told  us,  and 
we  would  have  forced  them  to  make  a  return  sooner." 

Then  said  Judge  Wild,  "  Mr.  Corbet,  you  go  upon 
general  terms;  and  if  it  be  as  you  say,  we  have  com- 
mitted many  errors  at  the  Old  Bailey,  and  in  other 
courts." 

Corbet  was  positive  that  by  law  they  could  not  im- 
prison upon  a  prgemunire. 

The  Judge  said,  "  There  is  summons  in  the 
statute." 

"  Yes,"  said  Corbet,  "  but  summons  is  not  im- 
prisonment; for  summons  is  in  order  to  a  trial." 

"  Well,"  said  the  Judge,  "  we  must  have  time  to 
look  in  our  books  and  consult  the  statutes."  So  the 
hearing  was  put  off  till  the  next  day. 

The  next  day  they  chose  rather  to  let  this  plea  fall 
and  begin  with  the  errors  of  the  indictment;  and 
when  they  came  to  be  opened,  they  were  so  many 


The  Last  Imprisonment.  543 


and  gross  that  the  judges  were  all  of  opinion  that  the 
indictment  was  quashed  and  void,  and  that  I  ought 
to  have  my  liberty. 

There  were  that  day  several  great  men,  lords  and 
others,  who  had  the  oaths  of  allegiance  and  suprem- 
acy tendered  to  them  in  open  court,  just  before  my 
trial  came  on;  and  some  of  my  adversaries  moved  the 
judges  that  the  oaths  might  be  tendered  again  to  me, 
telling  them  I  was  a  dangerous  man  to  be  at  liberty. 

But  Chief-Justice  Hale  *  said  that  he  had  indeed 
heard  some  such  reports,  but  he  had  also  heard  many 
more  good  reports  of  me;  and  so  he  and  the  rest  of 
the  judges  ordered  me  to  be  freed  by  proclamation. 

Thus  after  I  had  suffered  imprisonment  a  year  and 
almost  two  months  for  nothing,  I  was  fairly  set  at 
liberty  ui:)on  a  trial  of  the  errors  in  my  indictment, 
without  receiving  any  pardon,  or  coming  under  any 
obligation  or  engagement  at  all;  and  the  Lord's  ever- 
lasting power  went  over  all,  to  His  glory  and  praise. 

Counsellor  Corbet,  who  pleaded  for  me,  obtained 
great  fame  by  it,  for  many  of  the  lawyers  came  to 
him  and  told  him  he  had  brought  that  to  light  which 
had  not  been  known  before,  as  to  the  not  imprisoning 
upon  a  praemunire ;  and  after  the  trial  a  judge  said  to 
him,  "  You  have  attained  a  great  deal  of  honour  by 
pleading  George  Fox's  cause  so  in  court."  ^ 

Being  at  liberty,  I  visited  Friends  in  London;  and 


*  This  is  Chief  Justice  Sir  Matthew  Hale. 

^  It  will  be  noticed  that  Fox  is  set  at  liberty  on  the 
errors  in  his  indictment,  and  not  on  a  judicial  decision 
that  it  is  illegal  to  imprison  on  a  prcBmunire. 


544         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


having  been  very  weak,  and  not  yet  well  recovered, 
I  went  to  Kingston;  and  having  visited  Friends  there, 
returned  to  London,  wrote  a  paper  to  the  Parliament, 
and  sent  several  books  to  them. 

A  great  book  against  swearing  had  been  delivered 
to  them  a  little  before;  the  reasonableness  whereof 
had  so  much  influence,  that  it  was  thought  they 
would  have  done  something  towards  our  relief  if  they 
had  sat  longer.  I  stayed  in  and  near  London  till  the 
yearly  meeting,  to  wliich  Friends  came  from  most 
parts  of  the  nation,  and  some  from  beyond  sea.  A 
glorious  meeting  we  had  in  the  everlasting  power  of 
God. 

The  illness  I  got  in  my  imprisonment  at  Worcestei 
had  so  much  weakened  me  that  it  was  long  before  I 
recovered  my  natural  strength  again.  For  which 
reason,  and  as  many  things  lay  upon  me  to  write, 
both  for  public  and  private  service,  I  did  not  stir 
much  abroad  during  the  time  that  I  now  stayed  in 
the  north;  but  when  Friends  were  not  with  me,  I 
spent  much  time  in  writing  for  Truth's  service. 
While  I  was  at  Swarthmore,  I  gave  several  books  to 
be  printed.^ 


*  George  Fox  was  now  only  fifty-one  years  old,  but 
he  was  prematurely  broken  by  the  sufferings  and  expos- 
ures which  only  such  an  iron  constitution  as  he  pos- 
sessed could  have  endured  for  thirty  years.  He  still 
had  fourteen  years  to  live,  but  from  now  on  a  decided 
change  appears.  There  is  no  cessation  of  activity,  but 
it  is  activity  of  a  quieter  sort.  Only  one  important 
mission  journey  falls  in  these  years — the  visit  to  Hoi- 


The  Last  Imprisonment.  545 


[This  letter  to  hi^  "  Dear  Heart  "  from  York  during 
the  winter  of  1677  shows  that  he  still  had  some  power 
of  endurance  left.] 

"  Deae  Heart  : 

"  To  whom  is  my  love,  and  to  thy  daughters,  and 
to  all  Friends  that  inquire  after  me.  My  desires  are 
that  ye  all  may  be  preserved  in  the  Lord's  everlast- 
ing Seed,  in  whom  ye  will  have  life  and  peace,  do- 
minion and  settlement,  in  the  everlasting  home  or 
dwelling  in  the  house  built  upon  the  foundation  of 
God. 

"  In  the  power  of  the  Lord  I  am  brought  to  York, 
having  had  many  meetings  in  the  way.  The  road 
was  many  times  deep  and  bad  with  snow,  our  horses 
sometimes  were  down,  and  we  were  not  able  to  ride; 
and  sometimes  we  had  great  storms  and  rain;  but  by 
the  power  of  the  Lord  I  went  through  all, 

"  At  Scarhouse  there  was  a  very  large  meeting, 
and  at  Burrowby  another,  to  which  Friends  came  out 
of  Cleveland  and  Durham;  and  many  other  meetings 
we  have  had.  At  York,  yesterday,  we  had  a  very 
large  meeting,  exceedingly  thronged.  Friends  being 
at  it  from  many  parts,  and  all  quiet,  and  well  satis- 
fied.   Oh  the  glory  of  the  Lord  that  shone  over  all ! 


land  and  Germany.  Henceforth  he  makes  his  pen  speak 
for  him.  Epistles  and  books  are  the  main  results  of 
these  fourteen  years.  The  Journal  grows  dry  and  de- 
void of  dramatic  interest,  and  our  gleanings  from  it 
will  be  few.  He  is  much  at  Swarthmore  or  at  King- 
ston, near  London,  where  Margaret  Eous,  a  daughter 
of  his  wife,  lived. 


546         George  Fox:  An,  Autobiography. 


"  This  day  we  have  had  a  large  men's  and  women's 
meeting,  many  Friends,  both  men  and  women,  being 
come  out  of  the  country,  and  all  was  quiet.  This 
evening  we  are  to  have  the  men's  and  women's  meet- 
ing of  the  Friends  of  the  city. 

"  John  Whitehead  is  here,  with  Robert  Lodge  and 
others;  Friends  are  mighty  glad,  above  measure.  So 
I  am  in  my  holy  element  and  holy  work  in  the  Lord; 
glory  to  His  name  for  ever !  To-morrow  I  intend  to 
go  out  of  the  city  towards  Tadcaster,  though  I  can- 
not ride  as  in  days  past ;  yet  praised  be  the  Lord  that 
I  can  travel  as  well  as  I  do ! 

"  So  with  my  love  in  the  fountain  of  life,  in  which 
as  ye  all  abide  ye  will  have  refreshment  of  life,  that 
by  it  we  may  grow  and  gather  eternal  strength  to 
serve  the  Lord,  and  be  satisfied,  to  the  God  of  all 
power,  who  is  all-sufficient  to  preserve  you,  I  commit 
you  all.  G.  F. 

"  York,  the  16th  of  the  Second  month  [April]  1677." 

[After  much  service  in  several  counties,  he  returns 
to  London.  The  Journal  proceeds:] 

It  pleased  the  Lord  to  bring  me  safe  to  London, 
though  much  wearied;  for  though  I  rode  not  very  far 
in  a  day,  yet,  through  weakness  of  body,  continual 
travelling  was  hard  to  me.  Besides,  I  had  not  much 
rest  at  night  to  refresh  nature ;  for  I  often  sat  up  late 
with  Friends,  where  I  lodged,  to  inform  and  advise 
them  in  things  wherein  they  were  wanting;  and  when 
in  bed  I  was  often  hindered  of  sleep  by  great  pains  in 
my  head  and  teeth,  occasioned,  as  I  thought,  from 


The  Last  Imprisonment.  547 


cold  taken  by  riding  often  in  the  rain.  But  the 
Lord's  power  was  over  all,  and  carried  me  through 
all,  to  His  praise. 

To  the  London  Yearly  Meeting*  many  Friends 
came  from  most  parts  of  the  nation;  and  some  out  of 
Scotland,  Holland,  etc.  Very  glorious  meetings  we 
had,  wherein  the  Lord's  powerful  presence  was  very 
largely  felt;  and  the  affairs  of  Truth  were  sweetly 
carried  on  in  the  unity  of  the  Spirit,  to  the  satisfac- 
tion and  comfort  of  the  upright-hearted;  blessed  be 
the  Lord  for  ever ! 

After  the  yearly  meeting,  having  stayed  a  week 
or  two  with  Friends  in  London,  I  went  down  vdth 
William  Penn  to  his  house  in  Sussex,f  John 
Burnyeat  and  some  other  Friends  being  with 
us.  As  we  passed  through  Surrey,  hearing  the 
quarterly  meeting  was  that  day,  William  Penn, 
John  Burnyeat,  and  I,  went  from  the  road  to  it ;  and 
after  the  meeting  returning  to  our  other  company, 
went  with  them  to  William  Penn's  that  night;  which 
is  forty  miles  from  London. 

I  stayed  at  Worminghurst  about  three  weeks;  in 
which  time  John  Burnyeat  and  I  answered  a  very 
envious  and  wicked  book,  which  Roger  Williams,  a 
priest  of  ISTew  England  (or  some  colony  thereabouts) 
had  written  against  Truth  and  Friends.^ 

•1677.  t  Worminghurst.^ 


^  Fox  did  not  see  Eoger  Williams  in  Providence, 
though  the  latter  had  a  personal  tilt  with  John  Burn- 
yeat at  Newport  in  1G71.  After  George  Fox  had  left 
Providence  and  had  gone  back  down  the  Bay  with  his 


548         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

When  we  had  finished  that  service,  we  went  with 
Stephen  Smith  to  his  house  at  Warpledon  in  Surrey, 
where  we  had  a  large  meeting.  Friends  thereaway 
had  been  exceedingly  plundered  about  two  months 
before  on  the  priest's  account;  for  they  took  from 
Stephen  Smith  five  kine  (being  all  he  had)  for  about 
fifty  shillings  tithes. 

Thence  we  went  to  Kingston,  and  so  to  London, 
where  I  stayed  not  long;  for  it  was  upon  me  from  the 
Lord  to  go  into  Holland,  to  visit  Friends  and  to 
preach  the  gospel  there,  and  in  some  parts  of  Ger- 
many. Wherefore,  setting  things  in  order  for  my 
journey  as  fast  as  I  could,  I  took  leave  of  Friends  at 
London;  and  with  several  other  Friends  went  down 
to  Colchester,  in  order  to  my  passage  for  Holland. 

Next  day,  being  First-day,  I  was  at  the  public 
meeting  of  Friends  there,  which  was  very  large  and 


companion,  Nicholas  Easton,  governor  of  Ehode  Island, 
Eoger  Williams  rowed  to  Newport  with  a  challenge  to 
a  debate.  Fox,  however,  had  already  left  the  island, 
and  was  well  on  his  way  toward  Long  Island.  Williams 
then  wrote,  what  Fox  elsewhere  calls  "  Roger  Wil- 
liams's '  Book  of  Lyes/ "  a  book  bearing  the  grimly 
humorous  title,  "  George  Fox  digged  out  of  his  Bur- 
rows," Boston,  1676.  (See  Publications  of  the  Narra- 
gansett  Club,  Vol.  V.,  pp.  xx.-xlv..  Providence,  1872.) 
Fox  and  Burnyeat  reply  to  this  "  slanderous  book  "  in 
a  bulky  book  in  two  parts  entitled,  "  A  New  England 
Fire  Brand  Quenched."  Fox  seemed  not  to  know  just 
where  the  famous  "  apostle  of  soul  liberty  "  lived,  as  ho 
says,  "  a  priest  of  New  England  (or  some  colony  there- 
abouts!)" 


TJiG  Last  Imprisonment.  549 


peaceable.  In  the  evening  I  had  another  large  one, 
but  not  so  public,  at  John  Furly's  house,  where  I 
lodged.  The  day  following  I  was  at  the  women's 
meeting  there,  which  also  was  very  large. 

Thence  next  day  we  passed  to  Harwich,  where 
Robert  Duncan,  and  several  other  Friends  out  of  the 
country,  came  to  see  us ;  and  some  from  London  came 
to  us  there,  that  intended  to  go  over  with  me. 

The  packet  in  which  we  were  to  go  not  being  ready, 
we  went  to  the  meeting  in  the  town,  and  a  precious 
opportunity  we  had  together;  for  the  Lord,  according 
to  His  wonted  goodness,  by  His  overcoming,  refresh- 
ing power,  opened  many  mouths  to  declare  His  ever- 
lasting Truth,  to  praise  and  glorify  Him. 

After  the  meeting  at  Harwich  we  returned  to  John 
Vandewall's,  where  I  had  lodged;  and  when  the  boat 
was  ready,  taking  leave  of  Friends,  we  that  were 
bound  for  Holland  went  on  board  about  nine  in  the 
evening,  on  the  25th  of  the  Fifth  month,  1677.  The 
Friends  that  went  over  with  me,  were  William  Penn, 
Robert  Barclay,  George  Keith  and  his  wife,  John 
Furly  and  his  brother,  William  Tailcoat,  George 
Watts,  and  Isabel  Yeomans,  one  of  my  wife's  daugh- 
ters. 

About  one  in  the  morning  we  weighed  anchor, 
having  a  fair  brisk  wind,  which  by  next  morning 
brought  us  within  sight  of  Holland.  But  that  day 
proving  very  clear  and  calm  we  got  forward  little, 
till  about  four  in  the  afternoon,  when  a  fresh  gale 
arose  which  carried  us  vsdthin  a  league  of  land.  Then 
being  becalmed  again,  we  cast  anchor  for  that  night, 


550         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


it  being  between  the  hours  of  nine  and  ten  in  the 
evening. 

William  Penn  and  Kobert  Barclay,  understanding 
that  Benjamin  Furly  was  come  from  Rotterdam  to 
the  Briel  to  meet  us,  got  two  of  the  boatmen  to  let 
down  a  small  boat  that  belonged  to  the  packet,  and 
row  them  to  shore;  but  before  they  could  reach  it  the 
gates  were  shut;  and  there  being  no  house  without 
the  gates,  they  lay  in  a  fisherman's  boat  all  night. 

As  soon  as  the  gates  were  opened  in  the  morning, 
they  went  in,  and  foimd  Benjamin  Furly,  with  other 
Friends  of  Rotterdam,  that  were  come  thither  to  re- 
ceive us;  and  they  sent  a  boat,  with  three  young  men 
in  it,  that  lived  with  Benjamin  Furly,  who  brought 
us  to  the  Briel,  where  the  Friends  received  us  with 
great  gladness. 

We  stayed  about  two  hours  to  refresh  ourselves, 
and  then  took  boat,  with  the  Holland  Friends,  for 
Rotterdam,  where  we  arrived  about  eleven  that  day, 
the  28th  of  the  month.  I  was  very  well  this  voyage, 
but  some  of  the  Friends  were  sea-sick.  A  fine 
passage  we  had,  and  all  came  safe  and  well  to  land; 
blessed  and  praised  be  the  name  of  the  Lord  for  ever! 

I^ext  day,  being  First-day,  we  had  two  meetings  at 
Benjamin  Furly's,  where  many  of  the  townspeople 
and  some  officers  came  in,  and  all  were  ci\'il.  Benja- 
min Furly,  or  John  Claus,  a  Friend  of  Amsterdam, 
interpreted,  when  any  Friend  declared.  I  spent  the 
next  day  in  visiting  Friends  there. 

The  day  following,  William  Penn  and  I,  with  other 
Friends,  went  towards  Amsterdam  with  some  Friends 
of  that  city,  who  came  to  Rotterdam  to  conduct  us 


The  Last  Imprisonment. 


551 


thither.  We  took  boat  in  the  afternoon,  and,  pass- 
ing by  Overkirk,  came  to  Delft,  through  which  we 
walked  on  foot. 

We  then  took  boat  again  to  Leyden,  where  we 
lodged  that  night  at  an  inn.  This  is  six  Dutch  miles 
from  Rotterdam,  which  are  eighteen  English  miles, 
and  five  hours'  sail  or  travelling;  for  our  boat  was 
drawn  by  a  horse  that  went  on  the  shore. 

Next  day,  taking  boat  again,  we  went  to  Haarlem, 
fourteen  miles  from  Leyden,  where  we  had  ap- 
pointed a  meeting,  which  proved  very  large;  for 
many  of  the  townspeople  came  in,  and  two  of  their 
preachers.  The  Lord  gave  us  a  blessed  opportunity, 
not  only  with  respect  to  Friends,  but  to  other  sober 
people,  and  the  meeting  ended  peaceably  and  well. 
After  it  we  passed  to  Amsterdam. 

[After  a  conference,  the  following  meetings  were  es- 
tablished or  "  settled."] 

A  monthly,  a  quarterly,  and  a  yearly  meeting,  to  be 
held  at  Amsterdam  for  Friends  in  all  the  United 
Provinces  of  Holland,  and  in  Embden,  the  Palatinate, 
Hamburg,  Frederickstadt,  Dantzic,  and  other  places 
in  and  about  Germany;  which  Friends  were  glad  of, 
and  it  has  been  of  great  service  to  Truth. 

[One  of  the  most  interesting  episodes  of  this  Journey 
was  the  visit  paid  by  George  Keith's  wife  and  Fox's 
step-daughter,  Isabel  Yeomans,  to  the  Princess  Eliza- 
beth, to  whom  Fox  sent  a  personal  letter.  "  Princess 
Elizabeth  "  was  the  daughter  of  the  unfortunate  Fred- 
erick, Elector  Palatine,  and  granddaughter  of  James 


552         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

the  first  of  England.  She  was  a  woman  of  great  spir- 
itual gifts  and  of  considerable  intellectual  power.  She 
was  the  friend  and  correspondent  of  the  philosopher 
Des  Cartes.  She  had,  previous  to  this  visit,  made  the 
acquaintance  (which  developed  into  close  friendship) 
of  William  Penn  and  Kobert  Barclay.  She  frequently 
used  her  influence  upon  her  uncle,  King  Charles,  and 
her  brother.  Prince  Eupert,  to  secure  the  release  of 
Friends  from  the  prisons  of  England  and  Scotland. 
Her  answer  to  George  Fox's  letter  is  as  follows:] 

"  Dear  Fbiend: 

"  I  cannot  but  have  a  tender  love  to  those  that  love 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  to  whom  it  is  given,  not 
only  to  believe  in  Him,  but  also  to  suffer  for  Him; 
therefore  your  letter  and  your  Friends'  visit  have 
been  both  very  vi^elcome  to  me.  I  shall  follov?  their 
and  your  counsel  as  far  as  God  will  afford  me  light 
and  unction;  remaining  still  your  loving  friend, 

"  Elizabeth. 

"  Hertford  [Westphalia],  the  30th  of  August,  1677." 

[Twice  we  get  glimpses  of  the  great  world  move- 
ments which  just  then  had  these  Low  Countries  for 
their  stage.  In  the  great  struggle  with  Louis  XIV. 
the  dykes  had  been  cut  and  much  of  the  country  was 
under  water.  Here  is  an  experience  in  East  Fries- 
land:] 

One  of  the  magistrates  of  that  city  [Groningen] 
came  with  us  from  Leeu\^arden,  wath  whom  I  had 
some  discourse  on  the  way,  and  he  was  very  loving. 
We  walked  nearly  two  miles  through  the  city,  and 
then  took  boat  for  Delfziel;  and  passing  in  the  even- 


The  Last  Imprisonment.  553 


ing  through  a  town  called  Appingdalem,  where  had 
been  a  great  horse-fair  that  day,  there  came  many 
officers  rushing  into  the  boat,  and  being  somewhat  in 
drink,  they  were  very  rude.  I  spoke  to  them,  exhort- 
ing them  to  fear  the  Lord,  and  beware  of  Solomon's 
vanities.  They  were  boisterous  fellows;  yet  some- 
what more  civil  afterwards. 

[The  other  circumstance  which  connects  Fox  here 
with  history  is  his  epistle  written  to  the  Peace  Ambas- 
sadors in  the  city  of  Nimeguen.  The  entry  in  the 
Journal  says:  "  I  wrote  an  epistle  to  the  ambassadors 
who  were  treating  for  a  peace  at  Nimeguen."  This  i? 
dated  Amsterdam,  the  21st  of  7th  mo.  (September), 
1677.   It  concludes  with  these  words:] 

"  From  him  who  is  a  lover  of  Truth,  rightieousness, 
and  peace,  who  desires  your  temporal  and  eternal 
good;  and  that  in  the  wisdom  of  God  that  is  from 
above,  pure,  gentle,  and  peaceable,  you  may  be  or- 
dered, and  order  all  things,  that  God  hath  committed 
to  you,  to  His  glory;  and  stop  those  things  among 
Christians,  so  far  as  you  have -power,  which  dishon- 
our God,  Christ,  and  Christianity! 

"  G.  F." 

[Here  is  an  incident  of  travel  in  Germany.] 

Being  clear  of  Hamburg,  we  took  leave  of  Friends 
there,  whom  we  left  well;  and  taking  John  Hill  with 
us,  passed  by  boat  to  a  city  in  the  Duke  of  Luneburg's 
coimtry;  where,  after  we  were  examined  by  the 
guards,  we  were  taken  to  the  main-guard,  and  there 


554         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

examined  more  strictly;  but  after  they  found  we 
were  not  soldiers,  they  were  civil,  and  let  us  pass. 

In  the  afternoon  we  travelled  by  wagon,  and  the 
waters  being  much  out,  by  reason  of  heavy  rains, 
when  it  drew  towards  night  we  hired  a  boy  on  the 
way  to  guide  us  through  a  great  water  we  had  to  pass. 
When  we  came  to  it,  the  water  was  so  deep,  before 
we  could  come  at  the  bridge,  that  the  wagoner  had  to 
wade,  and  I  drove  the  wagon. 

When  we  were  come  on  the  bridge,  the  horses 
broke  part  of  it  down,  and  one  of  them  fell  into  the 
water,  the  wagon  standing  upon  that  part  of  the 
bridge  which  remained  imbroken;  and  it  was  the 
Lord's  mercy  to  us  that  the  wagon  did  not  run  into 
the  brook.  When  they  had  got  the  horse  out,  he  lay 
a  while  as  if  dead;  but  at  length  they  got  him  up,  put 
him  to  the  wagon  again,  and  laid  the  planks  right; 
and  then,  through  the  goodness  of  the  Lord  to  us, 
we  got  safe  over. 

After  this  we  came  to  another  water.  Finding  it 
to  be  very  deep,  and  it  being  in  the  night,  we  hired 
two  men  to  help  us  through,  who  put  cords  to  the 
wagon  to  hold  it  by,  that  the  force  of  the  water  might 
not  drive  it  from  the  way.  But  when  we  came  into 
it,  the  stream  was  so  strong  that  it  took  one  of  the 
horses  off  his  legs,  and  was  carrying  him  down  the 
stream.  I  called  to  the  wagoner  to  pluck  him  to  him 
by  his  reins,  which  he  did,  and  the  horse  recovered 
his  legs;  and  with  much  difficulty  we  got  over  the 
bridge,  and  went  to  Bremerhaven,  the  town  where 
the  wagoner  lived. 

It  was  the  last  day  of  the  Sixth  month  that  we  es- 


The  Last  Imprisonment.  555 


caped  these  dangers;  and  it  being  about  eleven  at 
night  when  we  came  in  here,  we  got  some  fresh  straw, 
and  lay  upon  it  until  about  four  in  the  morning. 
Then,  getting  up,  we  set  forward  again  towards  Bre- 
men, by  wagon  and  boat. 

On  the  way  I  had  good  opportunities  to  publish 
Truth  among  the  people,  especially  at  a  market-town, 
where  we  stayed  to  change  our  passage.  Here  I  de- 
clared the  Truth  to  the  people,  warning  them  of  the 
day  of  the  Lord,  that  was  coming  upon  all  flesh;  and 
exhorting  them  to  righteousness,  telling  them  that 
God  was  come  to  teach  His  people  Himself,  and  that 
they  should  turn  to  the  Lord,  and  hearken  to  the 
teachings  of  His  Spirit  in  their  own  hearts. 

[While  the  work  was  going  forward  in  these  fresh 
fields,  trouble  was  increasing  at  home,  as  this  brief  let- 
ter shows:] 

Next  day,  feeling  a  concern  upon  ray  mind  with 
relation  to  those  seducing  spirits  that  made  division 
among  Friends,  and  being  sensible  that  they  endeav- 
oured to  insinuate  themselves  into  the  affectionate 
part,  I  was  moved  to  write  a  few  lines  to  Friends  con- 
cerning them,  as  follows: 

"  All  these  that  set  up  themselves  in  the  affections 
of  the  people,  set  up  themselves,  and  the  affections  of 
the  people,  and  not  Christ.  But  Friends,  your  peace- 
able habitation  in  the  Truth,  which  is  everlasting, 
and  changes  not,  will  outlast  all  the  habitations  of 
those  that  are  out  of  the  Truth,  be  they  ever  so  full 
of  words.  So  they  that  are  so  keen  for  John  Story 
and  John  Wilkinson,  let  them  take  them,  and  the 


556         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


separation;  and  you  that  have  given  yonr  testimony 
against  that  spirit,  stand  in  your  testimony,  till  they 
answer  by  condemnation.  Do  not  strive,  nor  make 
bargains  with  that  which  is  out  of  the  Truth;  nor 
save  that  alive  to  be  a  sacrifice  for  God,  which  should 
be  slain,  lest  you  lose  your  kingdom. 
'  "  G.  F. 

"  Amsterdam,  the  14th  of  the  Seventh  month,  1677." 

After  some  time  George  Keith  and  William  Penn 
came  back  from  Germany  *  to  Amsterdam,  and  had  a 
dispute  with  one  Galenus  Abrahams  (one  of  the  most 
noted  Baptists  in  Holland),  at  which  many  professors 
were  present;  but  not  having  time  to  finish  the  dis- 
pute then,  they  met  again,  two  days  after,  and  the 
Baptist  was  much  confounded,  and  Truth  gained 
ground.* 

•  Whither  they  had  gone  for  some  religious  service. 


*  This  Galenus  Abrahams  was  a  Mennonite  and  a 
man  of  considerable  note.  Sewell,  the  Quaker  histor- 
ian, who  had  himself  been  a  disciple  of  Abrahams,  tells 
us  that  in  this  discussion,  which  lasted  five  hours,  the 
latter  maintained  the  position  that  "nobody  nowa- 
days could  be  accepted  as  a  messenger  of  God 
unless  he  confirmed  the  same  by  miracle."  (See 
Sewell's  "History  of  Friends,"  Vol.  II.,  page  368, 
edition  of  1823.  See,  also,  Barclay's  "Religious 
Societies  of  the  Commonwealth,"  pages  174,  251.) 
During  his  second  visit  to  Holland,  Fox  had  an- 
other interview  with  the  famous  Mennonite  which  gives 
an  interesting  side  light  on  the  penetrating  power  of 
Fox's  eyes,  already  noticed.  "  Before  I  left  I  went  to 
visit  one  Galenus  Abrahams,  a  teacher  of  chief  note 


The  Last  Imprisonment.  557 


Finding  our  spirits  clear  of  the  service  which  the 
Lord  had  given  us  to  do  in  Holland,  we  took  leave  of 
Friends  of  Rotterdam,  and  passed  by  boat  to  the 
Briel,  in  order  to  take  passage  that  day  for  England. 
Several  Friends  of  Rotterdam  accompanied  us,  and 
some  of  Amsterdam,  who  were  come  to  see  us 
again  before  we  left  Holland.  But  the  packet  not 
coming  in  till  night,  we  lodged  that  night  at  the  Briel; 
and  next  day,  being  the  21st  of  the  Eighth  month, 
and  the  first  day  of  the  week,  we  went  on  board,  and 
set  sail  about  ten,  viz.,  William  Penn,  George  Keith, 
and  I,  and  Gertrude  Dirick  Nieson.  with  her  chil- 
dren. 

We  were  in  all  about  sixty  passengers,  and  had  a 
long  and  hazardous  passage ;  for  the  winds  were  con- 
trary and  the  weather  stormy.  The  boat  also  was 
very  leaky,  insomuch  that  we  had  to  have  two  pumps 
continually  going,  day  and  night;  so  that  it  was 
thought  there  was  quite  as  much  water  pumped  out 
as  the  vessel  would  have  held.  But  the  Lord,  who  is 
able  to  make  the  stormy  winds  to  cease,  and  the  rag- 


among  the  Mennonites,  or  Baptists.  I  had  been  with 
him  when  I  was  in  Holland  about  seven  years  before 
and  William  Penn  and  George  Keith  had  disputes  with 
him.  He  was  then  very  high  and  shy,  so  that  he  would 
not  let  me  touch  him,  nor  look  upon  him  (by  his  good 
will),  but  bid  me  '  Keep  my  eyes  off  him,  for,'  he  said, 
*  they  pierced  him.'  But  now  he  was  very  loving  and 
tender,  and  confessed  in  some  measure  to  truth;  his 
wife  also  and  daughter  were  tender  and  kind,  and  we 
parted  from  them  very  lovingly." 


558         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography . 

ing  waves  of  the  sea  calm,  yea,  to  raise  them  and  stop 
them  at  His  pleasure,  He  alone  did  preserve  us; 
praised  be  His  name  for  ever ! 

Though  our  passage  was  hard,  yet  we  had  a  fine 
time,  and  good  service  for  Truth  on  board  among  the 
passengers,  some  of  whom  were  great  folks,  and  were 
very  kind  and  loving.  We  arrived  at  Harwich  on 
the  23d,  at  night,  having  been  two  nights  and  almost 
three  days  at  sea. 

Next  morning  William  Penn  and  George  Keith 
took  horse  for  Colchester;  but  I  stayed,  and  had  a 
meeting  at  Harwich.  There  being  no  Colchester 
coach  there,  and  the  postmaster's  wife  being  unrea- 
sonable in  her  demands  for  a  coach,  and  deceiving  us 
of  it  also  after  we  had  hired  it,  we  went  to  a  Friend's 
house  about  a  mile  and  a  half  in  the  country,  and 
hired  his  wagon,  which  we  bedded  well  with  straw, 
and  rode  in  it  to  Colchester. 

I  stayed  there  till  First-day,  having  a  desire  to  be 
at  Friends'  meeting  that  day;  and  a  very  large  and 
weighty  one  it  was ;  for  Friends,  hearing  of  my  return 
from  Holland,  flocked  from  several  parts  of  the  coun- 
try, and  many  of  the  townspeople  coming  in  also,  it 
was  thought  there  were  about  a  thousand  people  at 
it;  and  all  was  peaceable. 

I  stayed  at  Bristol  all  the  time  of  the  fair,  and 
some  time  after.  Many  sweet  and  precious  meetings 
we  had ;  many  Friends  being  there  from  several  parts 
of  the  nation,  some  on  accoimt  of  trade,  and  some  in 
the  service  of  Truth.  Great  was  the  love  and  unity 
of  Friends  that  abode  faithful  in  the  Truth,  though 
some  who  were  gone  out  of  the  holy  unity,  and  were 


The  Last  Imprisonment.  559 


run  into  strife,  division,  and  enmity,  were  rude  and 
abusive,  and  behaved  themselves  in  a  very  unchris- 
tian manner  towards  me." 

But  the  Lord's  power  was  over  all ;  by  which  being 
preserved  in  heavenly  patience,  which  can  bear  in- 
juries for  His  name's  sake,  I  felt  dominion  therein 
over  the  rough,  rude,  and  unruly  spirits;  and  left 
them  to  the  Lord,  who  knew  my  innocency,  and 
would  plead  my  cause.  The  more  these  laboured  to 
rejiroach  and  vilify  me,  the  more  did  the  love  of 
Friends  that  were  sincere  and  upright-hearted, 
abound  towards  me;  and  some  that  had  been  betrayed 
by  the  adversaries,  seeing  their  envy  and  rude  be- 
haviour, broke  off  from  them. 

About  two  weeks  after  I  came  to  London,  the 
yearly  meeting  began,  to  which  Friends  came  up  out 
of  most  parts  of  the  nation,  and  a  glorious,  heavenly 
meeting  we  had.  Oh,  the  glory,  majesty,  love,  life, 
wisdom,  and  unity,  that  were  amongst  us!  The 
power  reigned  over  all,  and  many  testimonies  were 
borne  therein  against  that  imgodly  spirit  which 
sought  to  make  rents  and  divisions  amongst  the 
Lord's  people;  but  not  one  mouth  was  opened 
amongst  us  in  its  defence,  or  on  its  behalf. 

Good  and  comfortable  accounts  also  we  had,  for 
the  most  part,  from  Friends  in  other  countries;  of 
which  I  find  a  brief  account  in  a  letter  which  soon 


®  He  had  previously  had  a  trying  time  with  oppo- 
nents who  were  "  very  unruly  and  troublesome "  in 
some  meetings  held  at  the  home  of  his  friend  Thomas 
Ellwood,  at  Hunger  Hill,  near  London. 


660         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

after  I  wrote  to  my  wife,  the  copy  whereof  here  fol- 
lows: 

I 

"  Dear  Heart: 

"  To  whom  is  my  love  in  the  everlasting  Seed  of 
life  that  reigns  over  all.  Great  meetings  here  have 
been,  and  the  Lord's  power  hath  been  stirring 
through  all.  The  Lord  hath  in  His  power  knit 
Friends  wonderfully  together,  and  His  glorious  pres- 
ence did  appear  among  them.  And  now  the  meetings 
are  over,  blessed  be  the  Lord  !  in  quietness  and  peace. 

"  From  Holland  I  hear  things  are  well  there:  some 
Friends  are  gone  that  way,  to  be  at  their  Yearly 
Meeting  at  Amsterdam.  At  Embden,  Friends  that 
were  banished  are  got  into  the  city  again. 

"  At  Dantzic,  Friends  are  in  prison,  and  the  mag- 
istrates threatened  them  with  harder  imprisonment ; 
but  the  next  day  the  Lutherans  rose,  and  plucked 
down  (or  defaced)  the  Popish  monastery;  so  they 
have  work  enough  among  themselves. 

"  The  King  of  Poland  received  my  letter,  and  read 
it  himself ;  and  Friends  have  since  printed  it  in  High 
Dutch.^"  By  letters  from  the  Half- Yearly  Meeting 
in  Ireland,  I  hear  that  they  are  all  in  love  there. 

This  is  an  interesting  letter  to  John  III.  of  Po- 
land, in  which  are  given  many  passages  from  the  words 
of  sovereigns,  both  ancient  and  modern,  in  behalf  of 
liberty  of  conscience.  The  letter  is  an  able  and  valu- 
able document,  written,  as  the  writer  says,  "  in  love  to 
thy  immortal  soul  and  for  thy  eternal  good."  It  closes 
with  this  postscript: 

"Postscrint. — 'Blessed  be  the  merciful,  for  they  shall 


Tlie  Last  Imprisonment.  561 


"  At  Barbadoes,  Friends  are  in  quietness,  and  their 
meetings  settled  in  peace.  At  Antigua  also,  and 
Nevis,  Truth  prospers,  and  Friends  have  their  meet- 
ings orderly  and  well.  Likewise  in  New  England  and 
other  places,  things  concerning  Truth  and  Friends 
are  well;  and  in  those  places  the  men's  and  women's 
meetings  are  settled ;  blessed  be  the  Lord ! 

"  So  keep  in  God's  power  and  Seed,  that  is  over  all, 
in  whom  ye  all  have  life  and  salvation ;  for  the  Lord 
reigns  over  all  in  His  glory,  and  in  His  kingdom; 
glory  to  His  name  forever.  Amen. 

"  In  haste,  with  my  love  to  you  all,  and  to  all 
Friends.  G.  F. 

"London,  the  26th  of  the  Third  month,  1678." 


obtain  mercy.'  And  remember,  0  king,  Justin  Martyr's 
two  Apologies  to  the  Roman  emperors,  in  the  defence 
of  the  persecuted  Christians;  and  that  notable  Apology, 
which  was  written  by  Tertullian,  upon  the  same  sub- 
ject; which  are  not  only  for  the  Christian  religion,  but 
against  all  persecution  for  religion." 


CHAPTEK  XX. 


1679-1691. 

[The  year  1679  was  spent  almost  entirely  in  retire^ 
ment  at  Swarthmore,  but  in  1680  the  activity  and 
travels  begin  again.  This  last  decade  of  Fox's  life  finds 
him  much  of  the  time  in  or  about  London,  for  there 
are  new  storms  to  be  met,  and  he  coixld  not  lie  at  ease 
in  the  "  North."  The  Wilkinson-Story  movement  in 
opposition  to  a  settled  system  of  government  and  dis- 
cipline made  his  presence  in  the  "  South  "  necessary. 
But  even  more  than  for  this  was  he  concerned  over  the 
fresh  spasm  of  persecution  which  during  the  closing 
years  of  Charles'  reign  filled  the  prisons  and  jails  with 
Quakers.  Whenever  or  wherever  the  "  Conventicle 
Act "  was  enforced  Friends  were  sure  to  have  the  large 
end  of  the  suffering  to  bear.] 

After  this  I  vpas  moved  of  the  Lord  to  visit 
Friends  in  some  parts  of  Surrey  and  Sussex.  I  went 
to  Kingston  by  vpater,  and  tarried  certain  days;  for 
while  I  was  there,  the  Lord  laid  it  upon  me  to  write 
both  to  the  great  Turk,  and  the  Dey  of  Algiers,  sev- 
erally, to  warn  them,  and  the  people  under  them,  to 
turn  from  their  wickedness,  fear  the  Lord,  and  do 
justly;  lest  the  judgments  of  God  should  come  upon 
them,  and  destroy  them  without  remedy.  To  the 
^Igerines  I  wrote  more  particularly  concerning  the 


"  The  Seed  Reigns  over  Death."  563 


cruelty  they  exercised  towards  Friends  and  others, 
whom  they  held  captives  in  Algiers. 

At  Hertford  I  met  with  John  Story,  and  some 
others  of  his  party;  but  the  testimony  of  Truth  went 
over  them,  and  kept  them  down,  so  that  the  meeting 
was  quiet. 

It  was  on  a  First-day;  and  the  next  day  being  the 
men's  and  women's  meeting  for  business,  I  visited 
them  also,  and  the  rather  because  some  in  that  place 
had  let  in  a  disesteem  of  them.  Wherefore  I  was 
moved  to  open  the  service  of  those  meetings,  and  the 
usefulness  and  benefit  thereof  to  the  Church  of 
Christ,  as  the  Lord  opened  the  thing  in  me;  and  it 
was  of  good  service  to  Friends. 

I  had  a  meeting  also  with  some  of  those  that  were 
gone  into  strife  and  contention,  to  show  them  wherein 
they  were  wrong;  and  having  cleared  myself  of  them, 
I  left  them  to  the  Lord. 

I  abode  at  London  most  part  of  this  winter,*  hav- 
ing much  service  for  the  Lord  there,  both  in  and  out 
of  meetings:  for  as  it  was  a  time  of  great  suffering 
among  Friends,  I  was  drawn  in  spirit  to  visit  Friends' 
meetings  more  frequently;  to  encourage  and 
strengthen  them  both,  by  exhortation  and  example. 
The  Parliament  also  was  sitting,  and  Friends  were 
diligent  in  waiting  upon  them,  to  lay  their  grievances 
before  them. 

We  received  fresh  accounts  almost  every  day  of 
the  sad  sufferings  Friends  underwent  in  many  parts 
of  the  nation.    In  seeking  relief  for  my  suffering 


•1680. 


564         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

brethren  I  spent  mucli  time;  together  with  other 
Friends,  who  were  freely  given  up  to  that  service, 
attending  at  the  Parliament-House  for  many  days 
together,  and  watching  all  opportunities  to  speak 
with  such  members  of  either  House  as  would  hear  our 
just  complaints. 

Indeed,  some  of  these  were  very  courteous  to  us, 
and  appeared  willing  to  help  us  if  they  could ;  but  the 
Parliament  being  then  earnest  in  examining  the 
Popish  plot,  and  contriving  ways  to  discover  such  as 
were  Popishly  affected,  our  adversaries  took  advan- 
tage against  us  (because  they  knew  we  could  not 
swear  nor  fight)  to  expose  us  to  those  penalties  that 
were  made  against  Papists;  though  they  knew  in 
their  consciences  that  we  were  no  Papists,  and  had 
had  experience  of  us,  that  we  were  no  plotters. 

Sufferings  continuing  severe  upon  Friends  at  Lon- 
don,* I  found  my  service  lay  mostly  there ;  wherefore 
I  went  but  little  out  of  town,  and  not  far;  being  fre- 
quent at  the  most  public  meetings,  to  encourage 
Friends,  both  by  word  and  example,  to  stand  fast  in 
the  testimony  to  which  God  had  called  them. 

At  other  times  I  went  about  from  house  to  house, 
visiting  Friends  that  had  their  goods  taken  away  for 
their  testimony  to  Truth;  because  the  wicked  in- 
formers were  grown  very  audacious,  by  reason  that 
they  had  too  much  countenance  and  encouragement 
from  some  justices,  who,  trusting  wholly  to  their  in- 
formation, proceeded  against  Friends  without  hear- 


*1682. 


"  The  Seed  Reigns  over  Deaths  565 


ing  tliem;  whereby  many  were  made  to  suffer,  not 
only  contrary  to  right,  but  even  contrary  to  law  also.' 

Now  I  had  some  inclination  to  go  into  the  country 
to  a  meeting,  but  hearing  that  there  would  be  a  bus- 
tle at  our  meetings,  and  feeling  a  great  disquietness 
in  people's  spirits  in  the  city  about  choosing  sheriff?, 
it  was  upon  me  to  stay  in  the  city,  and  go  to  the  meet- 
ing in  Gracechurch  street  upon  the  first  day  of  the 
week.  William  Penn  went  with  me,  and  spoke;  and 
while  he  was  declaring  the  Truth  to  the  people,  a  con- 
Btable  came  in  with  his  great  staff,  and  bade  him  give 
over,  and  come  down;  but  he  continued,  declaring 
Truth  in  the  power  of  God. 

After  a  while  the  constable  drew  back,  and  when 
William  Penn  had  done,  I  stood  up,  and  declared  to 


^  Here  is  a  beautiful  letter  to  those  who  are  suffer- 
ing: 

"  Dear,  suffering  lambs,  for  the  name  and  command 
of  Jesus;  be  valiant  for  His  truth,  and  faithful,  and  ye 
will  feel  the  presence  of  Christ  with  you.  Look  at 
Him  who  suffered  for  you,  who  hath  bought  you,  and 
will  feed  you;  who  saith,  '  Be  of  good  comfort,  I  have 
overcome  the  world ';  who  destroys  the  devil  and  his 
works,  and  bruises  the  serpent's  head.  I  say,  look  to 
Christ,  your  sanctuary,  in  whom  ye  have  rest  and  peace. 
To  you  it  is  given  not  only  to  believe,  but  to  suffer  for 
His  name's  sake.  They  that  will  live  godly  in  Christ 
Jesus,  shall  suffer  persecution  by  the  ungodly  profes- 
sors of  Christ  Jesus,  who  live  out  of  Him.  Therefore 
be  valiant  for  God's  truth  upon  the  earth,  and  look 
above  that  spirit  that  makes  you  suffer,  up  to  Christ, 
who  was  before  it  was,  and  will  be  when  it  ia  gone." 


566         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


the  people  the  everlasting  gospel,  which  was  preached 
in  the  apostles'  days,  and  to  Abraham;  and  which  the 
Church  in  the  apostles'  days  received,  and  came  to 
be  heirs  of. 

As  I  was  thus  speaking,  two  constables  came  in 
with  their  great  staves,  and  bade  me  give  over  speak- 
ing, and  come  down;  but,  feeling  the  power  of  the 
Lord  with  me,  I  spoke  on  therein,  both  to  the  consta- 
bles and  to  the  people.  To  the  constables  I  declared 
that  we  were  a  peaceable  people,  who  meet  to  wait 
upon  God,  and  worship  Him  in  spirit  and  in  truth; 
and  therefore  they  needed  not  to  come  with  their 
staves  amongst  us,  who  were  met  in  a  peaceable  man- 
ner, desiring  and  seeking  the  good  and  salvation  of  all 
people. 

Then  turning  my  speech  to  the  people  again,  I  de- 
clared what  further  was  upon  me  to  them;  and  while 
I  was  speaking,  the  constables  drew  out  towards  the 
door;  and  the  soldiers  stood  with  their  muskets  in 
the  yard. 

When  I  had  done  speaking,  I  kneeled  down  and 
prayed,  desiring  the  Lord  to  open  the  eyes  and  hearts 
of  all  people,  both  high  and  low,  that  their  minds 
might  be  turned  to  God  by  His  Holy  Spirit ;  that  He 
might  be  glorified  in  all  and  over  all.  After  prayer 
the  meeting  rose,  and  Friends  passed  away;  the  con- 
stables being  come  in  again,  but  without  the  soldiers; 
and  indeed,  both  they  and  the  soldiers  carried  them- 
selves civilly. 

William  Penn  and  I  went  into  a  room  hard  by,  as 
we  used  to  do,  and  many  Friends  went  with  us;  and 
lest  the  constables  should  think  we  would  shun  them, 


"The  Seed  Reigns  over  Death.'"  567 


a  Friend  went  down  and  told  them  that  if  they  would 
have  anything  with  us,  they  might  come  where  we 
were,  if  they  pleased. 

On  First-day  it  was  upon  me  to  go  to  Devonshire- 
House  meeting  in  the  afternoon;  and  because  I  had 
heard  Friends  were  kept  out  there  that  morning  (as 
they  were  that  day  at  most  meetings  about  the  city), 
I  went  sooner,  and  got  into  the  yard  before  the  sol- 
diers came  to  guard  the  passages.  But  the  constables 
were  there  before  me,  and  stood  in  the  doorway  with 
their  staves. 

I  asked  them  to  let  me  go  in.  They  said  they  could 
not,  durst  not;  for  they  were  commanded  the  con- 
trary, and  were  sorry  for  it. 

I  told  them  I  would  not  press  upon  them;  so  I 
stood  by,  and  they  were  very  civil. 

I  stood  till  I  was  weary,  and  then  one  gave  me  a 
stool  to  sit  down  on;  and  after  a  while  the  power  of 
the  Lord  began  to  spring  up  among  Friends,  and  one 
began  to  speak. 

The  constables  soon  forbade  him,  and  said  he 
should  not  speak;  and  he  not  stopping,  they  began  to 
be  wroth.  But  I  gently  laid  my  hand  upon  one  of  the 
constables,  and  wished  him  to  let  the  Friend  alone. 
The  constable  did  so,  and  was  quiet ;  and  the  man  did 
not  speak  long.  After  he  had  done,  I  was  moved  to 
stand  up  and  speak. 

I  then  sat  down ;  and  after  a  while  I  was  moved  to 
pray.  The  power  of  the  Lord  was  over  all;  and  the 
people,  the  constables  and  soldiers  put  off  their  hats. 

When  the  meeting  was  done,  and  Friends  began  to 
pass  away,  the  constable  put  off  his  hat,  and  desired 


568         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

the  Lord  to  bless  us;  for  the  power  of  the  Lord  was 
over  him  and  the  people,  and  kept  them  under. 

I  tarried  in  and  near  London,  visiting  Friends' 
meetings,  and  labouring  in  the  service  of  the  gospel, 
till  the  yearly  meeting  came  on,  which  began  on  the 
28th  of  the  Third  month.  It  was  a  time  of  great  suf- 
ferings; and  much  concerned  I  was  lest  Friends  that 
came  up  out  of  the  country  on  the  Church's  service, 
should  be  taken  and  imprisoned  at  London.  But  the 
Lord  was  with  us;  His  power  preserved  us,  and  gave 
us  a  sweet  and  blessed  opportunity  to  wait  upon  Him, 
to  be  refreshed  together  in  Him,  and  to  perform  His 
services  for  His  truth  and  people  for  which  we  met. 

As  it  was  a  time  of  great  persecution,  and  we 
understood  that  in  most  counties  Friends  were  under 
great  sufFerings,  either  by  imprisonments  or  spoiling 
of  goods,  or  both,  a  concern  was  weightily  upon  me 
lest  any  Friends  that  were  sufferers,  especially  such 
as  were  traders  and  dealers  in  the  world,  should  haz- 
ard the  losing  of  other  men's  goods  or  estates  through 
their  sufferings. 

On  the  First-day  following  *  I  went  to  the  meeting 
at  Gracechurch  street.  When  I  came  there,  I  found 
three  constables  in  the  meeting-house,  who  kept 
Friends  out ;  so  we  met  in  the  court. 

After  I  had  been  some  time  there,  I  stood  up  and 
spoke  to  the  people,  and  continued  speaking  some 
time.  Then  one  of  the  constables  came,  and  took  hold 
of  my  band,  and  said,  "  You  must  come  down."  I 
desired  him  to  be  patient,  and  went  on  speaking  to 

» In  1683. 


"  The  Seed  Reigns  over  Death.^'  569 

the  people ;  but  after  a  little  time  he  pulled  me  down, 
and  took  me  into  the  meeting-house. 

I  asked  them  if  they  were  not  weary  of  this  work. 
One  of  them  said,  "  Indeed  we  are."  They  let  me  go 
into  the  widow  Foster's  house,  which  joined  the  meet- 
ing-house, where  I  stayed,  being  hot. 

When  the  meeting  was  ended,  for  one  prayed  after 
I  was  taken  away,  the  constables  asked  some  Friends 
which  of  them  would  pass  their  words  that  I  should 
appear,  if  they  should  be  questioned  about  me.  But 
the  Friends  told  them  they  need  not  require  that,  for 
I  was  a  man  well  known  in  the  city  to  be  one  that 
would  neither  fly  nor  shrink.  So  they  went  away, 
and  I  heard  no  further  of  it. 

I  continued  yet  at  London,  labouring  in  the  work 
and  service  of  the  Lord,  both  in  and  out  of  meetings; 
sometimes  visiting  Friends  in  prison  for  the  testi- 
mony of  Jesus,  encouraging  them  in  their  sufferings, 
and  exhorting  them  to  stand  faithful  and  steadfast  in 
the  testimony,  which  the  Lord  had  committed  to 
them  to  bear.  Sometimes  also  I  visited  those  that 
were  sick  and  weak  in  body,  or  troubled  in  mind, 
helping  to  bear  up  their  spirits  from  sinking  imder 
their  infirmities.  Sometimes  our  meetings  were 
quiet  and  peaceable;  sometimes  they  were  disturbed 
and  broken  up  by  the  officers. 

As  I  was  speaking  in  the  power  of  the  Lord,*  and 
the  people  were  greatly  affected  therewith,  suddenly 
the  constables,  with  the  rude  people,  came  in  like  a 
sea. 


*  On  First-day  at  the  Savoy. 


570         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


One  of  the  constables  said  to  me,  "  Come  down"; 
and  he  laid  hands  on  me. 

I  asked  him,  "  Art  thou  a  Christian  ?  We  are 
Christians." 

He  had  hold  of  my  hand,  and  was  very  fierce  to 
pluck  me  down ;  but  I  stood  still,  and  spoke  a  few 
words  to  the  people;  desiring  of  the  Lord  that  the 
blessings  of  God  might  rest  upon  them  all. 

The  constable  still  called  upon  me  to  come  down, 
and  at  length  plucked  me  down,  and  bade  another 
man  with  a  staff  take  me  and  carry  me  to  prison. 
That  man  led  me  to  the  house  of  another  officer,  who 
was  more  civil;  and  after  a  while  they  brought  in 
four  Friends  more,  whom  they  had  taken. 

I  was  very  weary,  and  in  a  great  perspiration;  and 
several  Friends,  hearing  where  I  was,  came  to  me  in 
the  constable's  house;  but  I  bade  them  all  go  their 
ways,  lest  the  constables  and  informers  should  stop 
them. 

After  a  while  the  constables  led  us  almost  a  mile  to 
a  justice,  who  was  a  fierce,  passionate  man.  After 
he  had  asked  me  my  name,  and  his  clerk  had  taken  it 
in  writing,  upon  the  constable's  informing  him  that 
I  had  preached  in  the  meeting,  he  said  in  an  angry 
manner,  "  Do  not  you  know  that  it  is  contrary  to  the 
King's  laws  to  preach  in  such  conventicles,  contrary 
to  the  Liturgy  of  the  Church  of  England  ? " 

There  was  present  one  -■   Shad  (a  wicked  in- 
former, who  was  said  to  have  broken  jail  at  Coven- 
try, and  to  have  been  burned  in  the  hand  at  London), 
who,  hearing  the  justice  speak  so  to  me,  stepped  up 


"  The  Seed  Reigns  over  Death."  571 


to  him  and  told  him  that  he  had  convicted  them  on 
the  Act  of  the  22d  of  King  Charles  the  Second. 

"  What !  you  convict  them  ? "  said  the  justice. 

"  Yes,"  said  Shad,  "  I  have  convicted  them,  and 
you  must  convict  them  too  upon  that  Act." 

With  that  the  justice  was  angry  with  him,  and 
said,  "  You  teach  me !  what  are  you  ?  I'll  convict 
them  of  a  riot." 

The  informer  hearing  that  and  seeing  the  justice 
angry,  went  away  in  a  fret ;  so  he  was  disappointed  of 
his  purpose. 

Now  had  I  drawings  in  Spirit  to  go  into  Holland, 
to  visit  the  Seed  of  God  there.*  And  as  soon  as  the 
yearly  meeting  was  over  I  prepared  for  my  journey. 
There  went  with  me  from  London  Alexander  Parker, 
George  Watts,  and  Nathaniel  Brassey,  who  also  had 
drawings  into  that  country. 

We  took  coach  the  31st  of  the  Third  month,  1684, 
and  got  to  Colchester  that  night.  Next  day  being 
First-day,  we  went  to  the  meeting  there;  and  though 
there  was  no  notice  given  of  my  coming,  yet  our 
being  there  was  presently  spread  over  the  town,  and 
in  several  places  in  the  country  at  seven  and  ten  miles 
distance;  so  that  abundance  of  Friends  came  in 
double-horsed,  which  made  the  meeting  very  large. 

I  had  a  concern  and  travail  in  my  mind,  lest  this 
great  gathering  should  stir  up  the  town,  and  be  more 
than  the  magistrates  could  well  bear.  But  it  was 
very  quiet  and  peaceable,  and  a  glorious  meeting  we 
had,  to  the  settling  and  establishing  of  Friends  both 


•Spring  of  1684. 


572         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


in  town  and  country;  for  the  Lord's  power  w^s  over 
all;  blessed  be  His  name  for  ever! 

Truly  the  Lord's  power  and  presence  was  beyond 
words;  for  I  was  but  weak  to  go  into  a  meeting,  and 
my  face  (by  reason  of  a  cold  I  had  taken)  was  sore; 
but  God  manifested  His  strength  in  us  and  with  us, 
and  all  was  well.  The  Lord  have  the  glory  for  ever- 
more, for  His  supporting  power !  ^ 

It  was  the  latter  end  of  the  summer  when  I  came 
to  London,  where  I  stayed  the  winter  following;  sav- 
ing that  once  or  twice,  my  wife  being  in  town  with 
me,  I  went  with  her  to  her  son  E-ous's  at  Kingston. 
And  though  my  body  was  very  weak,  yet  I  was  in 
continual  service,  either  in  public  meetings,  when  I 
was  able  to  bear  them,  or  in  particular  business 
amongst  Friends,  and  visiting  those  that  were  suf- 
ferers for  Truth,  either  by  imprisonment  or  loss  of 
goods. 

Many  things  also  in  this  time  I  wrote,  some  for  the 
press,  and  some  for  particular  service;  as  letters  to 
the  King  of  Denmark  and  Duke  of  Holstein  on  be- 
half of  Friends  that  were  sufferers  in  their  do- 
minions.^ 


*  The  journal  of  the  second  visit  to  Holland  gives  lit- 
tle matter  of  fresh  interest.  The  visit  lasted  from  the 
31st  of  May  to  the  16th  of  July,  1684. 

^  This  letter  to  the  Duke  of  Holstein  ends  as  follows: 
"  I  entreat  the  duke  to  consider  these  things.  I  en- 
treat him  to  mind  God's  grace  and  truth  in  his  heart 
that  is  come  by  Jesus;  that  by  his  Spirit  of  Grace  and 
truth  he  may  come  to  serve  and  worship  God  in  Ms 


"  The  Seed  Reigns  over  Death."  573 


The  yearly  meeting  coming  on,  I  was  much  con- 
cerned for  Friends  that  came  up  to  it  out  of  the  coun- 
try, lest  they  should  meet  with  any  trouble  or  dis- 
turbance in  their  passage  up  or  down ;  and  the  rather 
because  about  that  time  a  great  bustle  arose  in  the 
nation  upon  the  Duke  of  Monmouth's  landing  in  the 
West.*  But  the  Lord,  according  to  His  wonted  good- 
ness, was  graciously  pleased  to  preserve  Friends  in 
safety,  and  gave  us  a  blessed  opportunity  to  meet 
together  in  peace  and  quietness,  and  accompanied  our 
meeting  with  His  living,  refreshing  px'esence :  blessed 
for  ever  be  His  holy  name  ! 

Considering  the  hiirries  that  were  in  the  nation,  it 
came  upon  me  at  the  close  of  this  meeting  to  write  a 
few  lines  to  Friends,  to  caution  all  to  keep  out  of  the 
spirit  of  the  world,  in  which  trouble  is,  and  to  dwell 
in  the  peaceable  Truth. 

I  came  back  to  London  in  the  First  month,  1686, 
and  set  myself  with  all  diligence  to  look  after 


Spirit  and  truth;  so  that  he  may  serve  the  living 
eternal  God  that  made  him,  in  his  generation,  and  have 
his  peace  in  Christ,  that  the  world  cannot  take  away. 
And  I  do  desire  his  good,  peace,  and  prosperity  in  this 
world,  and  his  eternal  comfort  and  happiness  in  the 
world  that  is  everlasting.   Amen.  G.  F. 

"  London,  26th  of  the  8th  Month,  1684." 

*  The  Duke  of  Monmouth,  illegitimate  son  of  Charles 
II.,  landed  in  Lyme,  in  Devonshire,  hoping  to  secure 
the  throne,  but  he  was  defeated  at  Sedgemoor  and  cap- 
tured July  6th,  1685. 


574         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 


Friends'  sufferings,  from  which  we  had  now  some 
hopes  of  getting  relief.  The  sessions  came  on  in  the 
Second  month  at  Hicks's-Hall,  where  many  Friends 
had  appeals  to  be  tried.  I  was  with  these  from  day 
to  day,  to  advise  them,  and  to  see  that  no  opportunity 
was  slipped  nor  advantage  lost;  and  they  generally 
succeeded  well. 

Soon  after  the  King  was  pleased,  upon  our  often 
laying  our  sufferings  before  him,  to  give  order  for  the 
releasing  of  all  prisoners  for  conscience'  sake  that 
were  in  his  power  to  discharge.  Thereby  the  prison- 
doors  were  opened,  and  many  hundreds  of  Friends, 
some  of  whom  had  been  long  in  prison,  were  set  at 
liberty.^ 

Some  of  those  who  had  for  many  years  been  re- 
strained in  bonds,  came  now  up  to  the  yearly  meet- 
ing, which  was  in  the  Third  month  this  year.  This 
caused  great  joy  to  Friends,  to  see  our  ancient,  faith- 
ful brethren  again  at  liberty  in  the  Lord's  work,  after 
their  long  confinement.  And  indeed  a  precious  meet- 


On  the  16th  of  May  James  II.  issued  a  warrant 
commanding  that  all  Quakers  who  had  been  convicted 
on  charges  of  prcemunire,  or  for  not  swearing,  or  for  not 
going  to  church,  should  be  released.  By  the  execution 
of  this  warrant  about  fifteen  hundred  Quakers  were 
set  free.  Naturally  the  yearly  meeting  which  followed 
was  a  happy  time.  This  "  Order  of  Kelease  "  is  pre- 
served in  the  Archives  in  Devonshire  House  in  London. 
It  is  written  on  eleven  skins  of  vellum,  with  the  king's 
portrait  at  the  top.  In  the  list  is  the  name  of  John 
Bunyan,  who  got  included  in  this  Eoyal  Pardon, 


"  The  Seed  Reigns  over  Death,"  575 


ing  we  had;  the  refreshing  presence  of  the  Lord  ap- 
pearing plentifully  with  us  and  amongst  us. 

[Gradually  Fox  was  growing  physically  weaker,  and, 
though  his  pen  was  busy  with  documents  and  letters, 
he  records  almost  nothing  in  his  Journal.] 

In  the  Seventh  month  *  I  returned  to  London, 
having  been  near  three  months  in  the  country  for  my 
health's  sake,  which  was  very  much  impaired;  so  that 
I  was  hardly  able  to  stay  in  a  meeting  the  whole  time; 
and  often  after  a  meeting  had  to  lie  down  on  a  bed. 
Yet  did  not  my  weakness  of  body  take  me  off  from 
the  service  of  the  Lord,  but  I  continued  to  labour  in 
and  out  of  meetings,  in  His  work,  as  He  gave  me  op- 
portunity and  ability. 

I  had  not  been  long  in  London  before  a  great 
weight  came  upon  me,  and  the  Lord  gave  me  a  sight 
of  the  great  bustles  and  troubles,  revolution  and 
change,  which  soon  after  came  to  pass.  In  the  sense 
thereof,  and  in  the  movings  of  the  Spirit  of  the 
Lord,  I  wrote  "  A  general  epistle  to  Friends,  to  fore- 
warn them  of  the  approaching  storm,  that  they  might 
all  retire  to  the  Lord,  in  whom  is  safety,* 

About  this  time  great  exercises  and  weights  came 
upon  me  (as  they  had  usually  done  before  the  great 
revolutions  and  changes  of  government),  and  my 
strength  departed  from  me ;  so  that  I  reeled,  and  was 
ready  to  fall,  as  I  went  along  the  streets.   At  length 

*  September,  1688. 


"  This  letter  was  written  October  17th,  1688.  Wil- 
liam landed  in  England  November  5th,  1688. 


57G         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

I  could  not  go  abroad  at  all,  I  was  so  weak,  for  some 
time,  till  I  felt  the  power  of  the  Lord  to  spring  over 
all,  and  had  received  an  assurance  from  Him,  that  He 
would  preserve  His  faithful  people  to  Himself 
through  all. 

About  the  middle  of  the  First  month,  1688-9,*  I 
went  to  London,  the  Parliament  then  sitting,  and  en- 
gaged about  the  bill  for  indulgence.  Though  I  was 
weak  in  body,  and  not  well  able  to  stir  about,  yet  so 
great  a  concern  was  upon  my  spirit  on  behalf  of 
Truth  and  Friends,  that  I  attended  continually  for 
many  days,  with  other  Friends,  at  the  Parliament- 
House,  laboiiring  with  the  members,  that  the  thing 
might  be  done  comprehensively  and  effectually. 

I  remained  at  London  till  the  beginning  of  the 
Ninth  monthjt  being  continually  exercised  in  the 
work  of  the  Lord,  either  in  public  meetings,  opening 
the  way  of  Truth  to  people,  and  building  up  and 
establishing  Friends  therein,  or  in  other  services 
relating  to  the  Church  of  God.  For  the  Parliament 
now  sitting,  and  having  a  bill  before  them  concerning 
oaths,  and  another  concerning  clandestine  marriages, 
several  Friends  attended  the  House,  to  get  those  bills 
so  worded  that  they  might  not  be  hurtful  to  Friends. 
In  this  service  I  also  assisted,  attending  on  the  Parlia- 
ment, and  discoursing  the  matter  with  several  of  the 
members. 

[Here  follows  (January  10th,  1691)  the  last  entry  in 
the  Journal,  with  the  letter  written  to  the  Irish 
Friends  who  were  enduring  almost  indescribable  suffer- 
ings, occasioned  by  the  civil  war  in  Ireland.] 

*  March,  1689.  t  November,  1690. 


"  The  Seed  Reigns  over  Death.'"  577 


Not  long  after  I  returned  to  London,  and  was 
almost  daily  with  Friends  at  meetings.  When  I  had 
been  near  two  weeks  in  town,  the  sense  of  the  great 
hardships  and  sore  sufferings  that  Friends  had  been 
and  were  under  in  Ireland,  coming  with  great  weight 
upon  me,  I  was  moved  to  write  an  epistle,  as  a  word 
of  consolation  unto  them/ 

[The  next  day  he  went  to  Gracechurch  Street  Meet- 
ing, which  was  large  and  in  which  he  preached  a  long 
and  powerful  sermon,  "opening  many  deep  and 
weighty  things."     He  then  offered  prayer,  and  the 


This  epistle,  the  last  he  ever  wrote,  closes  with  a 
triumphant  note  and  an  optimistic  outlook  on  the 
world: 

"  Christ  the  Seed  reigns;  and  His  power  is  over  all, 
who  bruises  the  serpent's  head,  and  destroys  the  devil 
and  his  works,  and  was  before  he  was.  So  all  of  you 
live  and  walk  in  Christ  Jesus;  that  nothing  may  be  be- 
tween you  and  God,  but  Christ,  in  whom  ye  have  sal- 
vation, life,  rest  and  peace  with  God. 

"  As  for  the  affairs  of  truth  in  this  land  and  abroad, 
I  hear  that  in  Holland  and  Germany,  and  thereaway, 
Friends  are  in  love,  unity,  and  peace:  and  in  Jamaica, 
Barbadoes,  Nevis,  Antigua,  Maryland,  and  New-Eng- 
land, I  hear  nothing,  but  Friends  are  in  unity  and 
peace.  The  Lord  preserve  them  all  out  of  the  world 
(in  which  there  is  trouble)  in  Christ  Jesus,  in  whom 
there  is  peace,  life,  love,  and  unity.  Amen.  My  love 
in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  to  all  Friends  everywhere  in 
your  land,  as  though  I  named  them.  G.  F. 

"  London,  the  10th  of  the  llth  month.  1690"  (January  10th,  1691). 


578         George  Fox:  An  Autobiography. 

meeting  closed.  When  some  Friends  came  to  his  room 
in  White-IIart-Court,  later  in  the  day,  he  told  them  he 
had  "  felt  the  cold  strike  to  his  heart,  as  he  came  out 
of  meeting  "  yet,"  he  added,  "  I  am  glad  I  was  here 
(i.  e.,  in  the  meeting).  Now  I  am  clear,  I  am  fully 
clear! "  Later,  when  Friends  were  visiting  him,  he 
said:  "All  is  well;  the  Seed  of  God  reigns  over  all  and 
over  death  itself.  And  though  I  am  weak  in  body,  yet 
the  power  of  God  is  over  all,  and  the  Seed  reigns  over 
all  disorderly  spirits."  "  Lying  thus  in  a  heavenly 
frame  of  mind,  his  spirit  wholly  exercised  towards  the 
Lord,"  he  fell  asleep  in  peace  on  the  evening  of  Janu- 
ary 13th,  1691.  The  funeral  was  attended  by  a  very 
large  concourse  of  people,  and  the  body  was  laid  in  the 
burying-ground  near  Bunhill  Fields,  where  the  grave 
is  now  marked  with  a  modest  stone.  Few  men  in  the 
dying  hour  could  say  more  truly,  "  I  am  clear."] 


INDEX. 

Abrahams,  Galenus,    556 

Amsterdam,    551 

Audland,  Jolin,    154 

Baltimore  Yearly  Meeting,  see  Maryland  Yearly  Meeting. 

Baptists,    18-20 

Barbadoes,   488-492 

Barclay,  Robert,    549 

Barnet,    69 

"Battledore,  The,"   386,  406 

Beavor,  Vale  of,   94,  98 

Believers,  true,    74 

Bennet,  Justice,   125,  126 

Beverley,   136 

Bishop,  George,    223 

Blood  of  Christ,    91 

Bradstreet,  Simon,    378 

Bristol,   272,  331,  392,  468,  535 

Bunyan,  John,  19,  26 

Burnyeat,  John,   498,  508,  547 

Burrough,  Edward,   157,  374,  402 

Cambridge,    228 

Carlisle,   186-191 

Carlyle,  his  characterization  of  Fox,  67n,  139n 

Carolina,   525-528 

Charles  II.,  Fox's  letter  to,    354 

Church,  The,  what  it  is,  92,  145,  447 

Claypole,  Lady  (Cromwell's  daughter),   320 

CleJ-gy,    40 

Coale,  Josiah,   515n 

Colchester,    224 

Commonwealth  Period,  its  importance,    16 

Conventicle  Act,   470,  474 

Cork,   465 

Cornwall,   238 

Craddock,  Dr.  (of  Coventry),   72 

Cradock,  Dr.,  an  Episcopalian,   445flf 

Cromwell,   212-215,  267,  275,  276,  319,  324,  325 

Crook,  John,   228,  317 

Croslands,  Jordan,    454 

Cumberland,    181 


580 


Index. 


Dales,  The,   161 

Dates,  given  in  "  old  style,"   69n 

Delaware  River,    501 

Derby,  119ff;  Fox  imprisoned  a  year,  121n,  131,  336 

Desborough,  General,    243 

Doomsdale  in  Launceston  Jail,   255 

Drayton-in-the-Clay,   65,  203 

Dunbar,    314 

Edinburgh,   302-306,  313 

Edmundson,  William,  232,  494,  499,  510,  532 

Education,  views  on,  37,461 

Edwards,  Thomas,  his  "  Gangraena,"  19,  20,  21 

Elizabeth,  the  Princess,    551 

Endicott,  Governor  John,   375 

Eton  in  Derbyshire,    95 

Exeter,   269,  279 

Falmouth  (Smethick),   240 

Farnsworth,  Richard,   151,  164 

Fell,  Judge,  162flF,  164n,  168,  174ff,  295 

Fell,  Leonard,   162 

Fell,  Margaret  (afterwards  Margaret  Fox),  160,  162,  351, 
352n,  353,  368,  404,  405,  409:  a  prisoner,  417,  421ff,  433; 

marries  George  Fox,  468ff,  482;  her  children,   536n 

Fenny -Drayton,   65n,  203 

Fifth-monarchy  men,  23,  364,  367,  384 

Flushing,    502 

Foreign  mission  work,  early,   385 

Fox,  Christopher,  65,  208 

Fox,  George,  his  creative  power,  24;  the  prophet  of  English 
Reformation,  24;  his  "despair,"  26;  turning  point  in 
his  life,  27;  views  of  the  Bible,  29;  his  mysticism,  31; 
enthusiasm,  32;  Divine  Guidance,  33;  his  view  of  man, 
34 ;  a  reformer,  35 ;  views  of  Education,  37 ;  on  Predes- 
tination, 40;  bis  cures,  41;  his  "Society,"  42;  his  fel- 
low-workers, 43;  parentage,  birth,  early  life,  65-67; 
"leather  suit,"  67,  139;  leaves  home,  68;  "despair," 
69;  his  experiences,  72-82;  his  financial  means,  74; 
conversion,  82-85;  his  sense  of  conditions,  87;  psychical 
change,  87 ;  the  "  flaming  sword,"  97 ;  new  view  of  crea- 
tion, 97;  his  central  teaching,  101;  his  message,  101-105, 
140,  155,  162;  first  imprisonment,  110;  cures  an  hys- 
teric woman,  112:  in  Derby  jail,  121ff;  at  Lichfield, 
132-134;  value  of  his  preaching,  141;  his  iron  constitu- 
tion, 144n;  beaten  and  stoned,  146;  Swarthmore,  159; 
beaten  at  Ulverstone,  169ff;  beaten  at  Walney,  172flF; 
how  he  bore  persecution,  174;  his  cures,  180n;  his  dis- 
cerning, 184;  sings  in  prison,  191;  visits  Cromwell, 


Index. 


58.1 


212-215  (see  also  Cromwell) ;  in  Launceston  jail  and 
his  trial,  244-268;  moved  to  travel  over  the  nation, 
277;  preaches  three  hours,  284  (see  also  155,  184,  274) ; 
long  hair,  293;  his  brave  spirit,  311;  use  of  the  Bible, 
327;  his  eyes,  344  (see  also  187,  557);  imprisoned  at 
Lancaster,  430ff;  in  Scarborough,  439;  set  free,  453; 
power  of  organizing,  459;  marries  Margaret  Fell,  468ff; 
ill  at  Stratford  (Essex),  477;  sails  for  America,  484; 
sails   for   England,   531;    last   imprisonment,  540ff; 

death,   578 

Fox,  Mary,   66,  539 

Friends,  beginning  of  the,  70n;  name,  77n 

Friends  set  at  liberty,    574 

Furly,  Benj.,    550 

Glasgow,    306 

Glynne,  Justice,   245 

Goldsmith,  Ralph,    374 

Gospel,  what  is  the,    403 

Hacker,  Colonel,  209,  369 

Hale,  Edward  Everett,  on  "  prophets,"   24n 

"  Hat  honor,"   105ff,  197,  245,  248,  410 

Holder,  Christopher,   511,  512 

Holiness,  a  life  of  (see  Perfection,  Christian),  85,  120fT 

Holland,   548-553,  571 

Hooton,  Elizabeth,   79n,  494,  495 

Hotham,  Justice,  22,  135-137,  141,  146 

Howgill,  Francis,   154,  168 

Huntingdon,  Robert,  at  Carlisle,    371 

Imprisonments  of  Friends,   277 

Independency,    17 

Indians,   499,  501,  510,  515,  519 

Inward  Light  (see  Light,  the). 

Ireland,   463-467 

Jails,  condition  of,  192,  193,  256,  372,  430 

Jamaica,    494 

James,  William,  on  the  "  Quaker  Religion,"    25n 

Jersey,  East,    512 

Jersey,  West,    501 

John  ap-John,  199,  280,  283,  285,  287fr,  293 

Keith,  George,  549,  556-558 

Kendal,   156,  166 

"King's  Missive"  (mandamus  sent  to  Boston),  374-377 

Kirby,  Colonel,  403,  409,  412 

Lampitt,  "a  priest,"   159-101,  169 

Lancaster,   164fr,  344-356,  410 

Lancaster,  James,   172ff,  183fr;  sings,  399,  499,  504 


Launceston, 


244-268 


582 


Index. 


"  Leathern  breeches,"   } . . .  139 

Leicester,  a  dispute  at,  92,  396 

Lichfield  132-134 

Light,  the,   29,  100-104,  162,  196,  238,  283,  310,  315 

"  Little  Ease,"    372n 

London,  70,  275,  277  et  seq.,  319-325,  471-476, 

559,  564,  568,  575-578 

Lower,  Thomas,   265,  536,  538 

Mancetter,    72 

Manchester,    293 

Mansfield,    95 

Marriage,  Friends'  ceremony  upheld  by  the  courts  387 

Maryland,   498-501,  531-533 

Maryland  (Baltimore)  Yearly  Meeting  begun,  .  . .  .498,  499,  520 

"  Meeting  for  Sufferings,"    340 

Meetings,  setting  up  of  ilonthly,   459,  461 

Ministers  (Friends  that  speak  in  public),  advice  to,  203n 

Ministry,    38 

Monk,  General,  his  order,   355 

Nancemond,    524 

^^arragansett,   508 

Nayler,  James,   147,  164,  168,  172-174,  234,  269-271 

New  Castle,   501,  517 

New  England,  Quakers  in,    373 

New  England  Yearly  Meeting,    504 

New  York  Half- Year's  Meeting,    502 

Nottingham,    109 

Oaths,  Act  in  regard  to  refusing  to  take  oaths,   395 

"  Opened,"  meaning  of  the  term,    74n 

Ordinances,    39 

Owen,  Dr.  John,    276 

Oxford  and  Cambridge  education  not  enough  to  qualify 

men  to  be  ministers,    75 

Oyster  Bay,    511 

Packer,  Colonel,    216f! 

Parker,  Alexander,   309,  310fr,  571 

Parnell,  James,   191,  192,  224 

Patringtoii,   142-144 

Pendle  Hill,    150 

Penington.  Isaac,   317n,  325 

Prnn,  William,  on  Fox,.... 44,  516n,  536,  547,  540,  556-558,  565 

Perfection,  Christian  (see  Holiness),  97,  101,  120ff,  333 

Persecution  of  Friends  in  New  England,  373,  379 

Poland,  letter  to  King  of   560 

Presbyterianism,    17 

"  Priest,"  meaning  of  the  word,    67n 

Prison,  number  of  Friends  in,   389 


Index.  583 

"  Professor,"  meaning  of  the  word,   68n 

Pronouns,  use  of  plural,  197,  380ff 

Providence,    507 

Quaker,  origin  of  the  najne,  125,  125n 

Quaker  honesty,   198 

Ranters,   22,  78n,  110-117 

Ranters  in  New  England,   506 

Reading,   223ff 

Reckless,  John,   110 

Religious  states,  various,    318 

Rhode  Island,   504-09 

Rotterdam,    550 

Sale,  Richard,   371 

SawTey,  Justice,   161,  163,  169,  175 

Scarborough,   439ff 

Schools,  establishing,   37,  461 

Scotland,   298-316 

Scriptures,  the  103,  109,  176 

Sect,  Quakers  not  a,   349n 

"  Seekers,  The,"   20-22 

"  Shake  the  countiy  ten  miles  round,"  who  could,   149 

Shattuck,  Samuel,    374 

Shelter  Island,    509 

Shrewsbury,  N.  J.,    513 

Sixty  ministers  sent  out,    201 

Smethick  (Falmouth),   240 

Smith,  William,   397 

Sommerton,   525,  528 

Speaking  in  a  house  of  worshij),   Kiln,  182n 

Stephens,  Nathaniel,  a  "priest,"   71,  76,  203-200,  211 

Stoddard,  Amor,    90 

Sufferings  of  Riends,  309;  in  New  England,  373-379,  389; 

petition  to  the  king,    389 

Swannington,    394 

Swarthmore,   159,  166ff,  179,  295,  297,  342,  403 

Swarthmore  Meeting  House,    164 

Taylor,  Thomas,  168,  200,  284 

"Thou  and  Thee,"  380-382 

"  Truth,"  meaning  of,    407n 

Ulverstone,   166,  169ff 

Vane,  Sir  Henry,    328 

Virginia,   524,  529 

Wales,   199,  280,  282-293 

Walney,    172 

War,  Fox's  view  of,  128,  130 

Warwick,   230 

Wensleydale,    151 


584  Index. 

West,  Justice,   176flf,  295 

Westmoreland,   154 

Widders,  Robert,  298,  307,  309,  311,  313,  341,  494,  499 

Wilkinson  and  Story,   537n,  555 

Williams,  Roger,    547 

Women,  their  position  in  the  church,  19,  537 

Women  preachers,    19 

Worcester,   539 

Worship,    38 

Yearly  Meetings,  at  Luton  (1658),  317;  Balby,  337;  Skip- 
ton  (1659)  340,  483 

York   138 


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